The Centre on Wednesday opposed a plea against the appointment of Delhi Police chief Rakesh Asthana , arguing that it had become a practice...
The Centre on Wednesday opposed a plea against the appointment of Delhi Police chief Rakesh Asthana, arguing that it had become a practice for “so-called integrity keepers” to challenge such decisions by the government, Live Law reported.
A Delhi High Court bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing a public interest litigation challenging Asthana’s appointment to the post on July 27.
Advocate BS Bagga, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that Asthana’s appointment order granting him an extension of service came just four days ahead of his retirement date on July 31.
Bagga said that the decision violated Rule 56(d) of the All India Services (Death-Cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules which states that government employees would not be given extensions beyond their retirement age of 60, Bar and Bench reported. He added that Asthana’s previous posting as a director general of Border Security Forces does not fall under certain cases under the Rule 56(d) where extensions of service are allowed.
Referring to a Supreme Court ruling in a previous case (Prakash Singh vs Union of India), Bagga argued that the minimum tenure of Asthana’s appointment should have been two years, while he has been made the Delhi Police chief only for one year.
Meanwhile, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, appearing for the Centre, argued that the Delhi...
