After appointment of Rajnish Seth as Maharashtra DGP, Bombay HC disposes of PIL on his predecessor

The top police post in Maharashtra fell vacant in January last year after the then DGP Subodh Jaiswal left mid-term to take over as head of the CISF

In the wake of the appointment of Rajnish Seth as Maharashtra's Director General of Police, the Bombay High Court on February 21 disposed of a PIL which had raised objections to IPS officer Sanjay Pandey's appointment as the acting DGP.

Maharashtra Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni produced before the HC a copy of the government resolution (GR) issued on February 18 this year, notifying Mr. Seth's appointment, and his joining letter. He told the Bench that Mr. Seth had taken charge of the post on February 18.

Mr. Kumbhakoni informed the court that the State had appointed Mr. Seth, one of the three IPS officers empanelled for the post by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in November last year, following which a Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M. S. Karnik disposed of the PIL.

"All that the GR says is that you [Seth] have received an empanellment from the UPSC. You are one of the three officers referred by the UPSC and are being selected for the post. We have not given any reasons, observations, findings. It is plain and simple," the Advocate General said.

The top police post in Maharashtra fell vacant in January last year after the then DGP Subodh Jaiswal left mid-term to take over as head of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). He was subsequently posted as the CBI director. The Maharashtra government had then appointed Mr. Pandey, the senior most officer in the State, as the acting DGP.

In November last year, the UPSC selected the names of three officers, including Mr. Seth, from a list of 18 IPS officers considered for the post. Mr. Pandey's name was in the list of 18 officers, but he was not among the three officers finally empanelled by the UPSC. The Maharashtra government, however, wrote to the UPSC asking it to reconsider Mr. Pandey's candidature for the DGP's post.