CAT accepts plea challenging appointment of Dinkar Gupta as Punjab DGP

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Friday accepted a plea against the promotion and appointment of Dinkar Gupta as Punjab Director General of Police (DGP).

The two-member bench of chairman L Narsimha Reddy and M Jamshed had reserved judgment over the matter till January 8.

A 1985-batch officer Mohammad Mustafa and 1986-batch officer Siddhharth Chattopadhyaya had filed a petition against the appointment of  Dinkar Gupta as Punjab DGP after they were not offered the opportunity by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) panel despite fulfilling criteria.

In the plea filed last year, the two police officers said they were senior to Gupta and had outstanding service records.

"The empanelment was done by a committee headed by then DGP Suresh Arora who was biased against Chattopadhyaya," Atma Ram said in the plea. The police officers also opposed the contention of the empanelment committee, which sent a report to the UPSC saying they lacked experience in core policing areas, Ram said.

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About Dinkar Gupta: DGP empaneled by UPSC

Dinkar Gupta, a 1987-batch officer was appointed as DGP in 2018 after he was empaneled by UPSC for the post. He had an eight-year-stint on central deputation with the Home Ministry, from June 2004 to July 2012, where he held many sensitive assignments.

As Gupta superseded five senior officers, including Mustafa and Chattopadhyaya, Mustafa claimed that Gupta's appointment was made on a mala fide basis. He asserted that as per Supreme Court criteria, he was a senior, had a good service record and added experience.

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Mustafa alleged that UPSC was kept in the dark while suggesting officers for the top ranks due to vested interests. 

"UPSC came up with no plausible reasons why it didn't recommend senior officers," Mustafa inferred.

Supreme Court lawyer Nirdesh Gupta represented the Punjab Government before the CAT bench, while Puneet Bali represented Dinkar Gupta.

Advocates Rajiv Atma Ram and PS Patwalia represented Mustafa and Chattopadhyaya respectively. Moreover, Advocate General Anu Chatrath appeared for UPSC.

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(With inputs from ANI)