The Centre has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to declare as illegal the appointment of the incumbent Jharkhand director general of Police (DGP) Tadasha Mishra, contending that the state government’s 2025 regulations governing the selection of police chief are contrary to the top court’s binding directions in the past.
The Centre has asked the court to direct Jharkhand to implement its directions in the Prakash Singh case and, alternatively, declare DGP appointments made under the 2025 regulation illegal. The Prakash Singh case relates to the Supreme Court’s monitoring of police reforms, in which the court has issued a series of directions since 2006 aimed at insulating the police from undue political interference and ensuring transparent, merit-based appointments and fixed tenures for senior police officers.
The application, filed in the long-running Prakash Singh case, has challenged the legality of appointments made under the “Selection and Appointment of Director General and Inspector General of Police, Jharkhand (Head of the Police Force) Regulation, 2025”. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant agreed on Wednesday to list the Centre’s application for hearing on Thursday, after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned it.
The court had clarified in its March 13, 2019 order that the requirement would apply to the UPSC’s recommendation and preparation of the panel. The Centre has also questioned the very framing of the 2025 regulations. Jharkhand notified the regulations on January 8, 2025, providing for a state-level nomination committee for selection of the DGP. After Gupta subsequently sought voluntary retirement, Jharkhand appointed Mishra as DGP on December 30, 2025.
This, the Centre has argued, runs contrary to the Supreme Court’s directions in the Prakash Singh case, under which recommendations for appointment of a DGP are to be made from officers having at least six months of residual service before retirement. The state, however, continued with the appointment process, the application alleges. The Centre says its January 6, 2026 communication asked the state to cancel both the 2025 regulations and Mishra’s appointment, since she was due to superannuate the following day, and to initiate a fresh appointment process in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions.
The application says the state framed the regulations without obtaining the Supreme Court’s permission as required by its earlier directions.
