Shillong: A fortnight after the Central
Administrative Tribunal (CAT) declared the appointment of
Shankar Barua as the Director General of Assam Police as null
and void, Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang on Monday said his
government kept the seniority criteria of IPS officers in mind
while selecting the state DGP.
"We have followed the seniority criteria of the
officers while appointing the DGP," Lapang said in reply to a
question by Opposition NCP MLA James Sangma in the Assembly.
While referring to the CAT report, Sangma had sought a
list of the eight senior-most IPS officers of the
Assam-Meghalaya cadre, and asked if the three senior-most
officers were empanelled for the post as per the Supreme Court
directive.
Lapang said names of three "available" senior-most
officers, W R Marbaniang (1975), Kulbir Krishan (1976) and S B
Kakati (1976), were sent to the UPSC for clearance for
empanelment.
"The UPSC said it would not be able to approve it now,
because it had filed a petition in the Supreme Court for
finalisation of the modality of empanelment. Pending the SC
ruling, the matter is sub-judice," Lapang said.
The Meghalaya government had appointed S B Kakati, who
was the then Assam Additional DGP heading the Police Housing
Corporation, as the DGP last year in October.
PTI
First Published: Monday, March 22, 2010, 19:25