A week after former police commissioner Satyapal Singh resigned from the police force to join politics, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the high court on Friday urging the court to ask the Maharashtra government to fill the post. The petition alleged that the morale of the force has gone down since the post of the commissioner has been lying vacant.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing on February 10 before a bench headed by Justice P V Hardas.
The PIL filed by Ketan Tirodkar states that the Congress and NCP were trying to push for candidates of their choice. The PIL mentions media reports that there is delay in filling post due to differences between the ruling alliance partners and Congress-NCP. The petition states that people would have to suffer if appointments were made based on political interests.
The PIL also seeks minutes of meetings held at the state government to decide on the next police commissioner. It also seeks the submission of the list of eligible candidates to court.
The PIL also seeks an affidavit from the state asking for reasons for dropping the post of Director General of Police in 2012-13 and allowing Mr Singh to continue as Mumbai Police Commissioner even as he was denied promotion as a DGP.
