A debate on the tenure of Election Commission-appointed police chief in Tamil Nadu

A debate is under way in police circles on the tenure of Sandeep Rai Rathore, appointed Tamil Nadu’s Director-General of Police and Head of Police Force on the directions of the Election Commission of India, in place of G. Venkatraman, the in-charge DGP/HoPF.

The posting comes with a promotion, as Mr. Rathore will be entitled to the Apex Scale (Level-17 of the pay matrix), equivalent to that of Chief Secretary. However, the EC order did not specify a tenure for him. The question is whether Mr. Rathore would be entitled to a minimum two-year tenure. The Supreme Court, in the landmark Prakash Singh case, had ruled that a State DGP/HoPF should have a minimum two-year tenure, irrespective of the date of superannuation. However, that ruling applies to appointments made through the UPSC-led process.