Bhubaneswar, Aug 14 (IANS) The Odisha government on Friday appointed Director General of Police (DGP), CID, Crime Branch, Vinaytosh Mishra as the interim head of the state police, assigning him additional charge of DGP, Odisha Police from August 16 following the retirement of incumbent DGP Y.B. Khurania.
Mishra will take charge of the state police force pending the appointment of a full‑time DGP, as a legal impasse continues to delay the selection of a regular police chief. Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has cleared the proposal to assign Mishra the additional charge of DGP, Odisha.
“After the retirement of current DGP Shri Y.B. Khurania on August 16, 2026, Shri Vinaytosh Mishra, DGP, CID, Crime Branch, will remain in additional charge of DGP (Head of Police Force) with effect from August 16, 2026, until further order. Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi has approved the proposal,” the Chief Minister’s Office informed on Friday.
Notably, a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on Thursday to defer its August 13 meeting to finalise the selection of Odisha’s DGP.
The meeting has been deferred until the next hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), scheduled for August 18. The bench recently agreed to hear a PIL challenging the process the Odisha government adopted to appoint the next DGP.
The petition alleges that the process is inconsistent with the guidelines laid down by the apex court in the 2006 Prakash Singh judgment. The UPSC had earlier planned a meeting on August 7 to consider the shortlisted candidates for Odisha’s DGP post. However, the Odisha government later withdrew the names submitted for consideration.
–IANS
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