Chandigarh, September 12: In a major development, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs to grant a three-month extension to the Punjab Director General of Police Mr Suresh Arora for a period of three months.
Mr Arora assumed charge as DGP on October 25, 2015, during the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party government. Mr Arora was due for retirement on September 30, 2018.
The appointment of the new DGP had become a contentious issue with the state Cabinet insisting on choosing the next incumbent. This came in response to the recent Supreme Court judgment directing the states to send a panel of senior officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which will shortlist three officers of whom the state will select the top cop.
The Punjab government had approached the central government for an extension in Arora’s tenure last month. The file seeking an extension for the 1982-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer was sent to the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) and the department of personnel and training last month.
On August 10, the state government had said it would file a review petition against the SC order that also binds the states to send names of senior police officials to UPSC three months before the post of DGP gets vacant.
