Supreme Court slams Rakesh Asthana: High Court rejects petition

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a voluntary organization (NGO) to appeal against a Delhi High Court order. The appeal challenges the appointment of senior IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as Delhi Police Commissioner on July 9, four days before his retirement.

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said it would hear the petition filed by the NGO and its appeal on November 26. Petitioner Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO Center for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), said the court had stayed his application filed against Asthana's appointment on August 4 and asked the Delhi High Court to decide on such application as soon as possible.

Now that the High Court has decided on the pending application, it will help the court to proceed with the judgment. I request the court to decide on our application challenging the appointment of Asthana. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Center, objected on technical grounds, saying it was a writ petition and if Bhushan did not agree with the High Court order, he would have to file an appeal seeking the court's approval.

The bench said there are instances where a party aggrieved by a High Court order can file an application without the permission of the court. The bench further said that we will allow you to file an appeal and will take and decide on both the writ petition and the appeal. Senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Asthana, said the court should not have allowed the writ petition if the petitioner was being allowed to appeal to the NGO. The bench said it would look into the matter on November 9.