Amidthe political crisis in Punjab Congress, the state party head Navjot SinghSidhu has demanded the removal of certain officials including Punjab DGP IPSIqbal Preet Singh Sahota and Advocate General APS Deol. For the post of DGP,Sidhu and his confidants are pushing the name of 1986 batch IPS officerSiddharth Chattopadhyaya.
Meanwhile,a panel of 10 officers including S Chattopadhyaya has been sent to Union PublicService Commission (UPSC) for the appointment of a regular director general ofpolice (DGP). Now, the commission will return a panel of three names, of whichthe state has to select its new police chief.
Thehot-favourite of Sidhu, Chattopadhayaya is set to retire on March 31 next year.Notably, he is the senior of incumbent DGP Dinkar Gupta and had also been inthe race earlier. However, he was shunned out by the UPSC, and IPS Gupta wasappointed as DGP to which Chattopadhyaya opposed aggressively.
Chattopadhyayahad challenged the UPSC’s recommendation of three junior officers for the postof state DGP completely ignoring his candidacy, in the apex court and the caseis still underway.
Statingthat the allegations of bias in the selection process “due to the presence offormer DGP Suresh Arora in the empanelment committee”, Chattopadhyaya claimedthat he has been targeted because he was probing the role of Dinkar Gupta,along with Arora, in a drug case in 2018. However, the Punjab Governmentdismissed the allegations.
Chattopadhyayaalso accused Dinkar Gupta of holding a Benami property, however, these claimswere also shunned by the administration, accusing him of misleading the CentralAdministrative Tribunal (CAT).
Lastyear, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) asserted that theDirector-General of Police Siddharth Chattopadhyaya was disqualified as therewas some problem with his assessment sheets and also due to his"litigation tactics."
Theclaims and attack were made concerning “assessment sheets” that were allegedlywithheld from the Central Administrative Tribunal while it was hearingpetitions against the nomination of senior IPS officer Dinkar Gupta as thepolice chief.
DGPSiddharth Chattopadhyaya had previously stated that the assessment sheets wereconcocted and fabricated. However, the case, it was explained to the Bench,hinged on the fact that the assessment sheets were absent.
Notably,the administration had also slammed Chattopadhyaya's claim that he wasvirtually responsible for the elimination of terrorism in Punjab, saying it wasnot only inaccurate but also highly irresponsible.
“Theidea that any one officer is primarily or completely responsible for preventingterrorism is not only incorrect but also very misleading and irresponsible, aswell as unfit for a senior IPS official,” the state stated.
Now,the big question stands on UPSC’s earlier decisions if Chattopadhayaya isincluded in the panel of three officers best for DGP’s post.
Meanwhile,Navjot Sidhu has been continuously opposing the appointment of DGP Sahota. Heclaimed that IPS Sahota has given a clean chit to the Badals and Baba Ram Rahimof Dera Sacha Sauda in the sacrilege charges when he was in charge of a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) set up by the Badal-led-SAD government in 2015.
Itappears Sidhu might get DGP Sahota sacked, however, there are slight chances ofhis favourite being appointed to the top post.