TN yet to send proposal for appointing new Head of Police Force 

In an unusual move, the Tamil Nadu government is yet to send the list of Director-General of Police rank officers to the Union Public Service Commission for finalising the panel to appoint the next DGP/Head of Police Force.

Going by Supreme Court guidelines in the appointment of DGPs, the State Government should have sent the list of eligible officers to the UPSC three months before the incumbent DGP Shankar Jiwal’s retirement (August 30, 2025). Once the list of eligible officers is sent, the UPSC would prepare a panel of three officers fit for appointment as Head of Police Force and send it back to the State for picking one to the top post.

Tamil Nadu is among a few States that follow the apex court guidelines in the Prakash Singh case as regards appointment of DGPs/HoPF. It has been the practice since many years to send the list of IPS officers for UPSC empanelling and subsequent appointment. However, with just more than a month left for the present DGP to retire, there is no sign of the State initiating the process, police sources said.

While there is an information that the State might amend the Tamil Nadu Police Act to enable appointment of an officer of its choice as DGP/HoPF, rumours are also agog that Mr. Shankar Jiwal may get an extension of three months with the approval of the Union Government.

The Supreme Court in its earlier order had directed the States to ensure that DGPs were appointed through a merit-based transparent process with a minimum tenure of two years irrespective of the date of superannuation.

However, after some States appointed DGPs at the last minute giving them the benefit of a full two-year tenure, the court directed that appointing a person as DGP just before his or her retirement should be avoided. The court also ruled against the concept of appointing an officer as “acting DGP”. Despite specific guidelines, some States appointed “in-charge” DGPs or DGPs with “full additional charge” to bypass the requirement of seeking a panel from the UPSC.

Qualifying officers

In case the State Government sends a list of officers to the UPSC, the officers in the order of seniority who would qualify to be in the proposal are Seema Agrawal, Rajeev Kumar, Sandeep Rai Rathore, K. Vannia Perumal, Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, G. Venkatraman, Vinit Dev Wankhede and Sanjay Mathur who are all in the level-16 pay matrix. Though in service, DGPs Pramod Kumar and Abhay Kumar Singh would not fit in the criteria of having a minimum of six months service left before retirement

Though the police headquarters has written to the State Home Secretary that vacancy to the top post in the police force would arise on August 30, 2025, no decision has been taken yet on sending a proposal to the UPSC for finalising the panel. The UPSC’s selection committee is headed by its Chairman and includes the Union Home Secretary, the concerned State’s Chief Secretary and DGP, and one of the heads of the Central Armed Police Forces nominated by the MHA not belonging same State cadre as members, the sources said.

Whether Tamil Nadu will deviate from the convention of complying with the Supreme Court guidelines in the appointment of DGPs and go ahead posting an officer of its choice to head the force remains to be seen.