New Delhi, Sep 29 The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought an explanation from its Registry for deleting from the cause list a batch of contempt petitions concerning the deputation of 46 IPS officers to five Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), despite a judicial order directing that the matter be taken up at 2 pm.
A bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and A S Chandurkar directed that the matters be listed again at 2 pm on Wednesday along with connected cases, and ordered the Registry to place on record why the case was struck off the list despite the court's order.
The issue was brought to the bench's notice by senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar, appearing for the petitioners.
Krishnakumar told the bench that the matter, listed as item 32, was removed from the cause list around noon and that the parties had not been given any notice.
"My colleagues say that the instructions are from the listing branch. I don't know what's happening. It's a little unfortunate," he submitted.
He also told the court that the respondents had filed an affidavit and sought to replace it after the matter had been removed from the list.
The bench subsequently recorded that the case had been listed for hearing at 2 pm pursuant to a judicial order but was struck off the cause list during the lunch break.
"Since it is a judicial order to get the case listed today at 2 pm, we direct the listing of this case tomorrow again at 2 pm," the bench said, directing that the Registry submit a note explaining the deletion.
The contempt proceedings have been initiated against Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan over alleged non-compliance with the apex court's May 23, 2025 judgment in Sanjay Prakash and Others versus Union of India and Others.
The court had earlier sought an explanation from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding the deputation of 46 IPS officers to five CAPFs despite its direction in the 2025 judgment to progressively reduce deputation posts in the CAPF cadres up to the Senior Administrative Grade level.
On September 2, the court had directed the MHA secretary to explain the procedure followed for bringing the IPS officers on deputation and why such deputations were made after the 2025 judgment. The MHA and Department of Personnel and Training were also directed to place details on the steps taken to comply with the judgment.
The proceedings assume significance in view of the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Act, 2026, which provides for 50 per cent of Inspector General posts and a minimum of 67 per cent of Additional Director General posts to be filled through IPS deputation. It also provides that posts of Special Director General and Director General shall be filled through deputation.
The top court has also issued notice to the Centre on a separate petition challenging the validity of the 2026 law.
