Punjab, DGP Gupta move HC against CAT order; hearing on Tuesday

The state of Punjab on Monday approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that set aside the appointment of senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta as the state police chief.

Chandigarh (Punjab): The state of Punjab on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order that set aside the appointment of senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta as the state police chief.

A division bench of justices Rajiv Sharma and Harinder Singh Sidhu allowed the hearing of the matter on Tuesday. Senior advocate Puneet Bali, on behalf of DGP Gupta, also moved the high court against the order of the CAT.

On January 17, the CAT had set aside the appointment of Gupta as the state police chief that had come as a big blow to the Amarinder Singh led state government.

A two-member bench of CAT chairman L Narsimha Reddy and M Jamshed had pronounced the order on an appeal by senior IPS officers Mohammad Mustafa and Siddharth Chattopadhyaya, who had challenged Gupta's appointment on the grounds that they were "ignored" despite being senior to Gupta

The police officers also opposed the contention of the empanelment committee, which had sent a report to the UPSC saying the officers lacked experience in core policing areas.

While Mustafa is a 1985-batch officer, Chattopadhyaya is a 1986-batch officer. Gupta is a 1987-batch officer. Gupta was appointed DGP in 2019. He superseded five senior officers, including Mustafa and Chattopadhyaya.

In his previous stint, Gupta was posted as the director-general of police, intelligence, Punjab.