SC Orders Nagaland to Appoint Rupin Sharma as DGP

KOHIMA: The Supreme Court of the country has ordered the appointment of Rupin Sharma as the head of police in Nagaland by replacing TJ Longkumer from the position as his tenure had exceeded the stipulated period of time. The verdict was given on Monday and ordered the state government to pass the appointment order of the Indian Police Service official within the week.

A bench of the Supreme Court under the leadership of the Chief Justice of India, Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud was hearing a plea of the Nagaland Law Students Federation against the extension of the tenure of T J Longkumer as the Director General of Police in Nagaland. The bench mentioned, "we direct the state of Nagaland to pass consequential order to implement the Court's order and appoint the officer duly empanelled by the UPSC."

The apex court of the country also refused to allow an application filed by Nagaland to relax the minimum period of service to 25 years from the existing 30 years during the same hearing. This was aimed to find more options for the position of DGP.

Rupin Sharma is an Indian Police Services official of the 1992 batch and also the only eligible candidate for the post of Nagaland DGP as recommended by the Union Public Service Commission.

The bench has also observed, "we are not inclined to direct the UPSC to relax the age requirement from 30 to 25 years. This Court cannot be unmindful of the fact that any mandate for age relaxation would result in a situation where despite eligible officers being available, officers junior by as much as 5 years would become DGP. This will not be in the interest of police service."

The Advocate General of Nagaland KN Balagopal mentioned to the Court that an exception of age relaxation was granted by the top court in June 2020 for the appointment of Tripura DGP. He also argued that the insufficiency of IPS officers from the Northeastern states will lead to the recurrence of the same problem in future.

The apex court replied, "Whether relaxation (in service criterion) should be there in future is for UPSC and MHA to decide. The present is not a case where the Court by a mandatory direction can command relaxation to be made."

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