Tamil Nadu DGP candidates to be finalised on March 20

The panel of three officers fit for appointment as Director General of Police/Head of Police Force of Tamil Nadu police will be finalised on March 20, 2026.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has convened the Empanelment Committee Meeting (ECM) in Delhi to shortlist and recommend the names of 3 DGP-rank officers to the top post. 

On February 12, 2026, the Supreme Court ordered that the appointment of a regular DGP/HoPF in Tamil Nadu should be completed within three weeks. 

The State Government was given one week’s time to send the list of eligible DGP-rank officers to the UPSC and the latter two weeks to finalise a panel of three officers, one among whom would be appointed forthwith to head the police force. 

The Supreme Court gave these instructions while disposing of a contempt petition filed by Kishore K. Swamy of Chennai who argued that the State had violated the apex court’s guidelines in the Prakash Singh case as regards the appointment of State DGPs.

Clarifications sought 

Though the State government sent the proposal within a week, the UPSC wrote back calling for some missing details. It also wanted the State to send the full list of DGPs in Level-16 pay grade and not include those in Level-15, police sources said. 

G. Venkatraman, a 1994-batch IPS officer, has been holding the post of in-charge DGP/HoPF since September 2025 following the superannuation of Shankar Jiwal. 

Among the other five officers senior to him, one officer may not be eligible considering the norm that there has to be a minimum of six months residual service left for consideration to the post of DGP/HoPF. However, the officer was eligible on the date when the vacancy arose (September 1, 2025).

The State has withdrawn the Integrity Certificate for one officer citing allegations of corruption, the sources said.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary and Home Secretary will represent the State in the ECM. The three others would be the UPSC chairperson or his nominee, the Union Home Secretary or his nominee and a DGP of one of the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces, the sources said.