Thread by @lawbarandbench

#BombayHighCourt reserves order in the plea filed by Mumbai lawyer seeking directions to #maharashtragoverment to appoint a Director General of State police based on recommendations of the UPSC committee.

@DGPMaharashtra
@CMOMaharashtra

Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud for the petitioner argued:
Current DGP Sanjay Pandey was merely an ‘acting DGP’.
was not one of the candidates whose name had been suggested by former Chief Secretary Sitaram Kunte to the Empanelment Committee.

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Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni for State argued:
Previous DGP Subodh Jaiswal was appointed CBI Director hence there was a void created.
The present DGP was the senior-most in the department.

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Kumbhakoni: As soon as the recommendation had been sent from the Committee, the #maharashtragoverment wrote back to them to reconsider the recommendations made.
Their response was awaited.

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Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh for UPSC argued once the recommendations which had been finalised and approved by the State CS had been submitted, there was no way an objection could be raised to those recommendations.

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Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice MS Karnik were the following queries during the hearing:

After having signed the minutes of meeting of November 1, 2021 which gave the three recommendations, could Kunte now claim that minutes were wrong?

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Bench: Why did the Chief Secretary sign the proceedings? Why did he not before signing, ensure that his note of dissent or objection is recorded. He is Chief Secretary of the State.

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Bench: Can the State make any representation to the empanelment committee at all, after a decision has been arrived at and communicated?

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Current DGP Pandey also approached the Court seeking to intervene in the PIL as “party who will be most affected by the order".

Bench enquired about his “right on the post” to know his locus to intervene in the PIL.

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Senior Advocate Navroz Seervai appearing for Pandey: It will arise if he ceases to be DGP. The UPSC committee has not considered it properly.
I want to be made a formal party to be heard on merits where I can place on record my service records amongst other things.

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Bench: Neither has state challenged recommendation in court of law, nor has Pandey, who is seriously affected by the recommendations made. You want us to hear in a PIL whether the committee was right in excluding your name or not.

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Bench: The scope here is “State govt has sat tight over the recommendations. So implement the recommendations made by the committee. It does not say appoint xyz, it says x, y or z.

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Bench: You are bringing in issues which are foreign for our consideration. Whether UPSC has properly appreciated your credentials, it is not for the High Court to look into at the first instance.

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