Hyderabad: The Supreme Court of India issued key directions on the Telangana DGP appointment, ordering the Union Public Service Commission and the Telangana government to complete the full selection process within four weeks.
The apex court directed authorities to consider the proposals sent by the Telangana government in April this year. The court heard a petition challenging the Telangana High Court verdict related to the appointment of B. Shivadhar Reddy as Director General of Police. Chief Justice Surya Kant, heading the bench, upheld the High Court’s order and reiterated that the DGP selection process must reach completion within the stipulated timeline.
While hearing the matter, the Chief Justice questioned why the case was listed before a single-judge bench. He observed that there was no error in the judge’s order. However, he said courts generally expected senior judges to hear matters of such importance.
Telangana DGP appointment challenged over temporary charge
The Telangana government issued a government order on September 26 last year, assigning full additional charge of DGP to Shivadhar Reddy. Subsequently, Hyderabad resident T. Dhanagopala Rao filed a petition in the Telangana High Court on October 10, seeking cancellation of the order.
The petitioner cited the Prakash Singh versus Union of India judgment, which laid down clear guidelines for DGP appointments. He argued that the Supreme Court barred temporary or ad hoc appointments to the DGP post. After hearing the case, the High Court refused to quash the government order but directed the state to continue the DGP selection process. The petitioners later approached the Supreme Court, challenging those directions.