Supreme Court Asks Jharkhand to Revisit Its DGP Appointment Rules
On 8 October 2026, a Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India said that Jharkhand's 2025 rules for choosing its Director General of Police (DGP) appear to conflict with the Court's judgment in the Prakash Singh case (2006). (The DGP is the top police officer of a state.)
The Court said the state may revisit the rule in question, or file a reply, and listed the matter after one week.
The Court issued notice to Tadasha Mishra, a 1994-batch IPS officer appointed DGP on 30 December 2025, one day before her retirement date. The bench said that if the rules are struck down, her appointment would also have to go.
The Central Government had asked the Court to act. It argued that Jharkhand made its own rules without the Court's permission, dropped the requirement of at least six months of service left, and used the two-year fixed tenure rule selectively.
The state defended the officer's appointment but said it would revisit the rules. It also questioned why only one state was being singled out, when many states have not fully followed the Prakash Singh directions.
Earlier, in September 2026, the court-appointed amicus curiae (a senior lawyer who helps the court) had said the appointment violated the Court's directions, while some other parts of the state rules were in line with them.
Prakash Singh v. Union of India (2006): Police Reform Directives
Prakash Singh v. Union of India is a landmark Supreme Court judgment of 22 September 2006 on police reform. The Court gave seven directions to the Centre and the states to protect the police from political pressure, give top officers a fixed tenure, and make the police more accountable. One of the most important directions is about how a state's DGP is chosen and how long the DGP stays in office.
Jharkhand's 2025 rules replaced the UPSC-panel method with a state-level committee and removed the six-month residual service condition, which allowed an officer to be appointed one day before retirement and then get a two-year term. The Supreme Court has said these rules appear to conflict with the Prakash Singh directions and asked the state to revisit them.
All India Services (Article 312)
All India Services are civil services common to the Centre and the states. Officers are recruited by the Centre through the UPSC, but each officer is given a state "cadre" and works mostly for that state. Today there are three All India Services: the IAS, the IPS and the Indian Forest Service. This shared system is why both the Centre and a state have a say over a state's top police officer.
A DGP is an IPS officer, a member of an All India Service, working for a state on a subject (police) that belongs to the state. This shared control is why the Centre, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, challenged Jharkhand's rules, while the state argued for its own power to choose its police chief.
- Supreme Court hearing on Jharkhand's DGP rules: 8 October 2026; matter listed after one week
- Rules in question: Selection and Appointment of Director General and Inspector General of Police, Jharkhand (Head of Police Force) Regulation/Rules, 2025
- Jharkhand's 2025 selection committee: headed by a retired High Court judge, with the Chief Secretary, a UPSC nominee, a JPSC (Jharkhand Public Service Commission) nominee and a retired DGP
- Tadasha Mishra: 1994-batch IPS, appointed DGP on 30 December 2025, a day before her retirement date
- Ministry of Home Affairs letter of 6 January 2026 asked Jharkhand to cancel the 2025 rules and the appointment
- Prakash Singh judgment: 22 September 2006; seven directions; DGP from 3 senior-most UPSC-empanelled officers; minimum 2-year tenure
- 3 July 2018 order: no acting DGP; proposals to UPSC 3 months before vacancy
- Police and public order: State List (Entries 2 and 1, List II, Seventh Schedule)