New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the Delhi high court should first hear the petition challenging the appointment of senior IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi police commissioner. The top court asked the high court to decide on the plea within two weeks.
The 1984-batch IPS officer, who had shifted to the Union cadre from Gujarat and was earlier serving as the director-general of the Border Security Force, was appointed as the Delhi police commissioner on July 27, four days before his superannuation on July 31.
The appointment was made possible by the Union government granting him an extension of service for one year beyond his date of retirement, which was July 31. He will have a tenure of one year as the police chief of the national capital.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had filed a petition on behalf of the NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), on Wednesday, described the plea before the high court as an “ambush petition” which is “filed in collusion with the government to get a dismissal to prevent genuine petitioners from coming forward”, according to LiveLaw.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant permitted CPIL to move to the Delhi high court to intervene in the pending plea against the appointment of Asthana.
Advocate Bhushan noted, “I’ve never seen such case where government shows such brazen violation of rule of law. He is given extension in violation of each and every rule! Four days before retirement he is appointed a police chief!”
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, said that some more time should be given to the high court as the government will have to file its response to the pending plea there.
The petition before the Supreme Court, moved by advocate Prashant Bhushan, urged the court to set aside the Union government’s order to appoint Asthana after extending his service period.
(With PTI inputs)