‘Are you treating him as an accused?’ — Apex court questions Nath’s exclusion as integrity certificate withdrawal, changing eligibility pool and ex-cadre promotions come under scrutiny
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR, SEPTEMBER 28: The Supreme Court has put Odisha’s DGP selection process under searching scrutiny, questioning the State government’s decision to withdraw the integrity certificate of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Susanta Kumar Nath after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) indicated that he might be examined in an ongoing Sub-Inspector recruitment case.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana questioned whether the State had effectively treated Nath as an accused by withdrawing his integrity certificate. The question goes to the heart of the State’s decision to remove the DGP-rank officer from consideration for the police chief’s post.
Nath’s name had initially been included in the panel sent to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). The State subsequently withdrew his integrity certificate and moved towards a revised list after the CBI communicated that he might need to be questioned in connection with the recruitment case. The State has defended the action on the basis of the investigation.
The Court is also examining changes to the eligibility pool. The proceedings have raised questions over the subsequent promotion of Additional Director General of Police-rank officers Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Jethwa to DGP rank and the creation of ex-cadre posts during the selection process.
For the petitioners, the sequence has been presented as an attempt to alter the field of eligible officers and facilitate the appointment of a preferred candidate. Senior advocate P. Chidambaram described the alleged sequence as “conspiracy and collusion”. These are allegations made before the Court and have not been judicially established.
The dispute has brought the process under the framework laid down by the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh v. Union of India, which requires selection of the State police chief from a UPSC-empanelled pool of eligible senior officers on specified service-related criteria.
The amicus curiae has also questioned whether the State’s decisions on integrity certification and eligibility were supported by cogent reasons and proper application of mind.
The Supreme Court has not yet held that Odisha violated the Prakash Singh directions or that Nath’s integrity certificate was unlawfully withdrawn. But the proceedings have transformed the DGP appointment into a broader judicial examination of how Odisha prepared, altered and defended its selection pool.
