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CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Vidhan Sabha unanimously passed the Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, on Tuesday to appoint the head of the state police force itself by taking the selection process out of the sole purview of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), saying that when “public order” and “police” appear in the State List of the Constitution, the state legislature is exclusively empowered to enact such laws. The amendment bill will now go the governor for his assent.
Punjab is the third state to pass legislation, after Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, to take the process out of the UPSC purview. The amendments to the relevant acts in Andhra and Telangana, in 2018, have received assent from the governors of the two states.
The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, according to the state government, shall constitute a seven-member empanelment committee, headed by a retired chief justice or retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, for selection of the state police chief. The committee will have nominees from the UPSC as well as the Union home ministry as members, besides the Punjab chief secretary, chairman or nominee of the Punjab Public Service Commission, administrative secretary of the state department of home affairs and justice, and a retired Punjab police chief.
The empanelment committee shall prepare a panel of three senior-most officers out of the pool of eligible IPS officers. Selection of the state DGP shall be on the basis of length of service, record and range of experience, and selection will be made on merit from a pool of eligible officers. IPS officers of the Punjab cadre who will be in the zone of consideration for state police chief include those promoted to DGP in Punjab, with at least 30 years of service, and a minimum residual tenure of six months as on the date of occurrence of the vacancy.
The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government gave additional charge of the state police chief to 1992-batch IPS officer Gaurav Yadav last year by sending the 1987-batch IPS officer and then head of the state police appointed through the UPSC, VK Bhawra, on leave. Yadav continues to hold additional charge as DGP till now.
Punjab is the third state to pass legislation, after Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, to take the process out of the UPSC purview. The amendments to the relevant acts in Andhra and Telangana, in 2018, have received assent from the governors of the two states.
The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, according to the state government, shall constitute a seven-member empanelment committee, headed by a retired chief justice or retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, for selection of the state police chief. The committee will have nominees from the UPSC as well as the Union home ministry as members, besides the Punjab chief secretary, chairman or nominee of the Punjab Public Service Commission, administrative secretary of the state department of home affairs and justice, and a retired Punjab police chief.
The empanelment committee shall prepare a panel of three senior-most officers out of the pool of eligible IPS officers. Selection of the state DGP shall be on the basis of length of service, record and range of experience, and selection will be made on merit from a pool of eligible officers. IPS officers of the Punjab cadre who will be in the zone of consideration for state police chief include those promoted to DGP in Punjab, with at least 30 years of service, and a minimum residual tenure of six months as on the date of occurrence of the vacancy.
The Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government gave additional charge of the state police chief to 1992-batch IPS officer Gaurav Yadav last year by sending the 1987-batch IPS officer and then head of the state police appointed through the UPSC, VK Bhawra, on leave. Yadav continues to hold additional charge as DGP till now.
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