The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to intervene in the appointment of former Director General of Prisons Dilbagh Singh as the acting director general of police in Jammu and Kashmir, PTI reported. Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the court that the state was in contempt of the Supreme Court’s guidelines on appointing directors general of police as Singh was allegedly named in a recruitment scam chargesheet, The Times of India reported.
Bhushan said former Director General of Police Shesh Paul Vaid had faced no charge or disciplinary action.
The top court sought the attorney general’s assistance in addressing the petition that claimed the state government had arbitrarily removed Vaid from his post.
Jammu and Kashmir has been under governor’s rule since June 20. Former Bihar Governor Satya Pal Malik replaced NN Vohra on August 23.
On September 6, the state government transferred Director General of Police Vaid and posted him as the state transport commissioner. The government said Singh will take over from Vaid until a regular appointment is made.
Vaid, a 1986 batch Indian Police Service officer, was appointed Jammu and Kashmir Police chief in December 2016. He was due to retire in October 2019.
Vaid’s transfer came days after close relatives of at least 10 police personnel were abducted by militants. They were later released, the police said on September 1. The abductions were allegedly in retaliation to the police detaining family members of three Hizbul Mujahideen militants.
Singh, a 1987 batch officer, was made head of the prisons department in February after Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Naveed Jatt escaped from police custody while being taken for a routine medical check-up at a hospital in Srinagar.
Soon after the transfer announcement, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said there was no hurry to replace Vaid. “He should have been changed only when a permanent arrangement had been worked out,” Abdullah said on Twitter. “Jammu and Kashmir Police has enough problems without having to deal with confusion of leadership.”
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