Delhi, August 12: ‘The Urgent Hearing’ of the PIL filed in the Supreme Court relating to the Odisha DGP selection process was deferred on Wednesday.

The PIL, reportedly filed by a RTI activist was listed for hearing today before a bench headed by CJI Justice Surya Kant.

The case involving public  interest is listed for hearing tomorrow, said reports.

On the other hand, the UPSC Empanelment Committee meeting is scheduled for August 13 to shortlist 3 eligible candidates for the Odisha DGP, out of the 4 names recommended by the state government.

The petition filed in the Supreme Court mentions that the Odisha government’s venture in selection of DGP violates the Supreme Court’s 2006 judgment in the Prakash Singh case on police reforms.

Senior advocate P Chidambaram who appears for the petitioner, has alleged that the Odisha government is attempting to bypass the apex court’s guidelines on the appointment of the state police chief.

The petition also alleges that ‘ineligible officers’ were included in the selection panel in an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s directions.

The controversy intensified after 1994-batch IPS officers Sanjeeb Panda and Yashwant Jethwa were recently promoted to the rank of DGP as part of the process to select the state’s next police chief.

The latest list reportedly includes 1990-batch IPS officer Sudhanshu Sarangi, 1993-batch IPS Officer RP Koche, and 1994-batch officers Sanjeeb Panda and Yashwant Jethwa.

Worth mentioning, the UPSC meeting was earlier scheduled for August 7. However, it was cancelled in the eleventh hour as the State government reportedly failed to submit the required documents. The development thus delayed the process of finalising the panel.