The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions today, August 18, 2025, challenging the appointment of Anurag Gupta as the Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand. The petitions allege that the appointment did not follow the due process of law.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria will preside over the hearing. Several petitions have been filed, including one by Babulal Marandi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly. Marandi has challenged Gupta's appointment as the state's DGP.
On July 24, 2025, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea from a social activist after senior advocate Anjana Prakash argued that the guidelines for appointing a DGP, as laid down by the court, were not followed in Gupta's case.
According to central government rules, Gupta was initially scheduled to retire on April 30, 2025, upon reaching the age of 60. The state government requested an extension of his tenure from the central government. However, sources indicate that the central government rejected this proposal.
Previously, a plea had been filed in the Supreme Court against Gupta's "ad hoc" appointment by the Hemant Soren-led JMM government in the state. On September 6, 2024, the Supreme Court sought responses from the state government and Gupta regarding a contempt plea. The plea alleged non-compliance with a 2006 Supreme Court verdict and subsequent directions. The 2006 verdict mandated a fixed two-year tenure for DGPs and their selection from a list of the three most senior IPS officers in the state, as recommended by the UPSC.
The petitions challenging Gupta's appointment contend that the state government did not follow the due process, as Gupta's name was allegedly not on the list recommended by the UPSC. Furthermore, the state government purportedly introduced a new rule to appoint Gupta, granting him an extension until April 2026, despite his impending retirement on April 30, 2025. The petitioners argue that these newly formulated rules blatantly violate the mandate established by the Supreme Court in the Prakash Singh vs. Union of India case and subsequent orders. The petition, filed through advocate Vivya Nagpal, asserts that the state government deliberately eliminated the requirement for empanelment by the UPSC, a cornerstone of transparency and merit-based appointments, and replaced it with a state-controlled selection committee.
The Union Home Ministry reportedly communicated to the state government that Gupta, having turned 60 in April 2025, is retired under the All India Services (AIS) rules and cannot continue in service. It's worth noting that in July 2024, the Hemant Soren government had removed then-DGP Ajay Kumar Singh before the completion of his two-year tenure. Singh was appointed DGP on February 14, 2023, and was expected to serve until February 2025 but was prematurely removed.
