A contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Ministry of Home Affairs challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the Delhi Police Comissioner.
The plea filed by Advocate Manohar Lal Sharma submitted that respondents have wilfully denied compliance of the order passed by the Supreme Court in Prakash Singh case on July 3, 2018 that there must be minimum three months left of service prior to the retirement for the appointment of DGP.
In the Prakash Singh case, the Supreme Court had held, “All the States shall send their proposals in anticipation of the vacancies to the Union Public Service Commission, well in time at least three months prior to the date of retirement of the incumbent on the post of Director General of Police.”
He further contested that Prime Minister, head of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, and the Home Minister jointly decided and appointed Rakesh Asthana as a Commissioner of Delhi Police for one year three days before he was to retire by issuing a letter stating, “Asthana, currently serving as Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF), will join as the Delhi Police Commissioner with immediate effect. He will have a tenure of one year.”
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The plea has also submitted that this appointment has not only been made in willful denial of the judgment passed by the Court but also has been done knowingly and deliberately to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice. The petitioner claimed the impugned appointment has been done despite the fact that Rakesh Asthana has been removed from CBI due to corruption charges against him.