Incumbent head of the Punjab Police force, Gaurav Yadav, is likely to continue as regular Director General of Police (DGP), with the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Tuesday shortlisting him among three officers for the post.
The UPSC is learnt to have shortlisted three officers from the eligible 1992 batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS), from which the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government will pick one.
The top three from the 1992 batch, in order of seniority, are Sharad Satya Chauhan (retirement: March 31, 2028), Harpreet Singh Sidhu (May 31, 2027), and Gaurav Yadav (April 30, 2029).
The AAP government had earlier resisted submitting the panel to the UPSC. The last DGP appointed through this process was V. K. Bhawra, whom the AAP government asked to proceed on leave in June 2022, days after the killing of Sidhu Moosewala.
It then handpicked Gaurav Yadav, who has continued as DGP since.
The process follows Supreme Court directives in the 2006 Prakash Singh case (and subsequent clarifications), which require states to send a list of eligible senior IPS officers to the UPSC three months before a vacancy arises. The UPSC then shortlists three names, from which the state selects one.
Punjab government sources said there does not seem to be any reason for the state government to replace DGP Yadav in the election year.
“Subject to some sudden change of opinion in the government, DGP Yadav is set to continue,” said a senior officer.
Although 1989-batch DGP Parag Jain is the seniormost, he already heads the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Dr. Sharad Satya Chauhan is currently posted as Special DGP-cum-Chief Director of the Vigilance Bureau. He was previously heading the Police Housing Corporation, a posting considered relatively insignificant compared to leading the state police force.
Punjab Anti-Narcotics Task Force chief Kuldeep Singh (retirement: December 31, 2026), also from the 1992 batch, misses out.
One of the shortlisted panelists—Special DGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu, who returned to the state last year after deputation with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), is still awaiting posting.
