Supreme Court to hear challenge to Jharkhand DGP rules

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Centre’s challenge to Jharkhand’s 2025 rules for appointing the state’s police chief and to appointments made under them. The court has directed that the plea be listed on Thursday, October 8, 2026. The legality of the rules and appointments remains unresolved. In its application, the Centre asks the court to declare the rules contrary to its directions in the 2006 Prakash Singh judgment and to find appointments made under them illegal. It also seeks an order requiring Jharkhand to follow the court’s directions on selecting a Director General of Police. The Centre’s allegations are claims in its application; the supplied reports do not include the state’s response or a ruling on the dispute. The challenge concerns the selection rules notified in January 2025 and the appointments of Anurag Gupta and Tadasha Mishra. The Centre says Gupta was appointed DGP on February 2, 2025, for a two-year term despite having about three months of service remaining. He was due to retire on April 30, 2025, and the Jharkhand government accepted his request for voluntary retirement on November 6, according to the application.