Odisha Govt May Appoint Interim DGP As Supreme Court Holds Off On PIL Hearing

The Odisha government seems to be in a quandary over the appointment of a new Director General of Police as the incumbent DGP Y B Khurania retires on August 16,2026. A PIL has been filed by P Chidambaram in the Supreme Court challenging the Odisha government’s appointment process. However, the Apex court decided not to list the matter. What seems clear is that the Supreme Court bench led by Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana wanted to delay immediate judicial intervention. Given this scenario, the State government may appoint an in-charge/officiating DGP temporarily pending the Supreme Court final hearing. Amid growing speculation over the appointment of Odisha’s next DGP, senior IPS officers Sanjeeb Panda and Yeshwant Kumar Jethwa were promoted to the Director General (DG) of Police rank few days ago. According to former Mumbai top cop Arup Patnaik, who hails from Odisha the said empanelment of police candidate falls under the purview of Home Minister Amit Shah. Patnaik noted that when Narendra Modi was Gujarat CM, he did not appoint a permanent DG for 15 years. Adding further, he says, it is a political decision as DG is also responsible to control the election process in the state.