Shortly after IPS Anurag Gupta was appointed the acting Director General of Police (DGP) of Jharkhand, a major row erupted. The Supreme Court, while hearing a contempt petition seeking his removal from the post, issued notices to the Jharkhand Government as well as the DGP asking them to submit a response within two weeks along with a counter affidavit.
The said notices were issued by a division bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud while hearing the contempt petition filed by a Jamshedpur-based resident. The contempt petition says that Officer Gupta was appointed on an ad-hoc basis in contravention of the apex court judgment which laid down procedures for the appointment of the DGPs in States.
The petitioner observed that the appointment of IPS Gupta as the acting DGP is a clear violation of SC’s judgment and thus his appointment should be declared null and void. Mr. Anurag Gupta (1990-batch IPS officer) was appointed as the acting DGP on July 27th, replacing Mr. Ajay Kumar Singh (1989-batch IPS officer).