The Karnataka High Court on Thursday disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of senior IPS officer Dr. M. A. Saleem as the interim Director General and Inspector General of Police (DGP and IGP). The petition, filed by advocate Sudha Katwa, urged the state to expedite the process of appointing a regular police chief in line with the Supreme Court’s guidelines issued in the 1996 Prakash Singh case.
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A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakru and Justice C. M. Joshi closed the matter after Advocate General K. Shashikiran Shetty assured the court that a full-time DGP would be appointed within a week of receiving the empanelment list of IPS officers from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
DG & IGP MA Saleem is 1993-batch IPS officer
DG & IGP MA Saleem, a 1993-batch IPS officer, was given additional charge of the state’s top police post on May 21 following the retirement of Alok Mohan. He currently heads the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) alongside his interim role.
The state informed the court that the delay in appointing a permanent police chief was due to the UPSC’s pending empanelment process. The empanelment committee reportedly met on August 26, and Karnataka has since written to the UPSC requesting the final list of eligible officers.
With these submissions, the bench concluded that no further directions were required and disposed of the petition. The PIL had also sought to restrict Dr. Saleem from discharging duties as in-charge DGP during the proceedings.