Vinaytosh Mishra Appointed Interim Odisha DGP Amid Supreme Court Stay

Senior IPS officer Vinaytosh Mishra, a 1993-batch officer, has been given additional charge as the interim Director General of Police (DGP) of Odisha.

Mishra, who is currently serving as the DG of the Crime Branch, will take charge of the Odisha Police after the tenure of incumbent DGP YB Khurania ends on August 16.

The interim arrangement has been approved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and will remain in force until further orders.

The appointment comes amid a legal dispute over the selection of Odisha’s next regular DGP. On Thursday, the Supreme Court directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to keep the DGP selection process on hold until the next hearing, scheduled for August 18.

The court’s intervention followed a public interest litigation concerning the alleged violation of the Supreme Court’s earlier Prakash Singh guidelines governing the appointment of police chiefs.

Senior advocate P. Chidambaram, appearing in the matter, argued that some junior officers had allegedly been promoted and subsequently included in a revised panel prepared for the DGP selection.

Odisha Advocate General Pitambar Acharya, however, rejected the allegations and argued that there had been no violation of the rules.

The Supreme Court also questioned the maintainability of the PIL. Chief Justice Justice Surya Kant observed that no officer had approached the court with such a grievance. However, amicus curiae Raju Ramachandran said he believed that the Prakash Singh guidelines may have been violated.

Based on the submissions of the amicus curiae, the Supreme Court put the UPSC meeting on hold and fixed August 18 for the next hearing.

The controversy gained momentum after the Odisha Home Department initially submitted a panel containing the names of three DG-rank officers to the UPSC on August 7. A revised panel was subsequently submitted, reportedly containing 11 names.

Meanwhile, two ADG-rank officers, Sanjeeb Panda and Yashwant Jethwa, were promoted to the DG rank. Their inclusion in the revised panel has become a major point of contention in the case.

With the regular DGP selection process currently on hold, Vinaytosh Mishra will serve as the interim DGP of Odisha until further orders.