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Updated September 16th, 2021 at 17:01 IST

Centre justifies Rakesh Asthana's appointment as Delhi CP; calls HC plea 'abuse of law'

Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the Commissioner of Police of Delhi on July 27,  just three days before he was to retire.

Reported by: Sudeshna Singh
Rakesh Asthana
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The Central government on Thursday opposed the plea challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner. During the hearing of the plea disputing the appointment in the Delhi High Court, the government underlined that the national capital had been facing 'diverse and extremely challenging situations of public order/law' and therefore, there was a need to appoint an 'experienced person' as Rakesh Asthana as the head of the police force. 

Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the Commissioner of Police of Delhi on July 27, just three days before he was to retire. Thereafter, a plea was filed in the Delhi High Court, challenging the appointment, and the one-year extension in service that was granted to Rakesh Asthana to serve the office. The petitioner, as per reports, in the plea seeking action in the matter, claimed that the criteria for the appointment laid down by the Supreme Court have been ignored.

Centre opposes plea challenging Rakesh Asthana's appointment as Delhi CP 

Opposing the plea challenging Rakesh Asthana's appointment, the Centre underlined, "A compelling need was felt by the Central Government to appoint a person as the head of the Police force of Delhi, who had diverse and vast experience of heading a large police force in a large State having diverse political as well as public order, as well as experience of working and supervising Central Investigating Agency(s) as well as para-military forces."

The PM Modi-led government stated that for the same, a search was conducted in the AGMUT cadre, which is the IPS cadre for GNCT. Pointing out that the cadre only comprises of the Union Territory and small north-eastern states, the Central government added that the requirements for the post were lacking the present pool, and "hence in the public interest, a decision was made by the Central Government to have an officer (Rakesh Asthana) who had experience in all the above fields to supervise Delhi Police force and to provide effective policing on the recent law and order situation which arose in the National Capital Territory of Delhi."

Having listed the argument, the government at the Centre urged Delhi High Court to dismiss the petition as well as Interlocutory Application. "The petition challenging Rakesh Asthana's appointment as Delhi Police Commissioner is an abuse of process of law," the government added, underlining that it was an outcome of some 'personal vendetta' against the incumbent police commissioner entertained by the petitioner as well as the intervener.

Before being appointed as the Delhi CP,  A 1984-batch IPS- Rakesh Asthana was also in the race to become the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). However, during a meeting for the same, Chief Justice NV Ramana- part of the three-member panel to pick the CBI chief, ruled out his appointment stating citing a Supreme Court decision that 'officers with less than six months left in service should not be considered for police chief posts'. Asthana's previous posting was as the DG of the BSF and the NCB. Before that, he had been a Special Director in the CBI, effectively the agency's no:2 official, before he and the then-director Alok Verma levelled allegations against each other following which, they were both removed. 

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Published September 16th, 2021 at 17:01 IST

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