The Delhi High Court has dismissed the application challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the Commissioner of Delhi Police. On the petition challenging the appointment of Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana, the High Court had earlier issued a notice to the Center seeking its response. His appointment was challenged by an NGO. The NGO Center for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) had filed an intervention petition challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana.
The petition said that the minimum tenure of Asthana was not six months, hence no UPSC panel was formed for his appointment. Also, the norm of minimum two-year tenure was ignored. Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked for a decision on the petition on the appointment of Asthana in two weeks.
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Delhi Police Commissioner and Gujarat cadre IPS Rakesh Asthana, while filing an affidavit in the Delhi High Court, said that propaganda is being spread against him on social media. The challenge to his appointment as the Delhi Police Commissioner is a misuse of legal proceedings and vendetta behind it. In the affidavit, Asthana had said that ever since he was made the special director of CBI, some organizations have been filing his petitions targeting him.
Rakesh Asthana was made Delhi Police Commissioner a few days before his retirement. At the same time, a resolution was passed in the Delhi Assembly against the appointment of Asthana as the police commissioner and asked the central government to withdraw this appointment.
The Aam Aadmi Party had said, ‘This appointment is in contempt of the order of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has also said that if someone is to be appointed at the DGP level, then there should be at least 6 months in his retirement. Rakesh Asthana was made the commissioner in place of Balaji Srivastava.’