New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Jharkhand government one week to file its response on a plea against the "ad hoc" appointment of acting Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Gupta by the Hemant Soren-led JMM government in Jharkhand.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, represented the Jharkhand government before a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Sibal sought time to file a response in the matter.
Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, representing the petitioner, urged the bench to list the matter for hearing within a week else the matter would be rendered "mission accomplished" for the respondents. The bench agreed with Divan’s contention and scheduled the matter for further hearing on October 21, 2024.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by one Naresh Makani, who sought contempt action against respondents for willfully and deliberately disobeying the orders passed by the top court over the appointment of the top police official in the state.
Earlier, the apex court had sought response from the state government and Gupta on the plea. The petitioner had alleged that non-compliance of a 2006 verdict of the apex court and subsequent directions mandating consideration of several procedures, including selection from a list of three senior most IPS officers of the state prepared by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC).
The petitioner’s counsel had argued that Divan that the appointment of 1990-batch IPS officer Gupta (as acting DGP) was in violation of the Prakash Singh judgment of 2006 and subsequent directions of the apex court.
