The Supreme Court on Friday warned the Centre, UPSC and the Nagaland government that it would be constrained to take recourse to coercive steps, including summoning senior officials, if no decision is taken by December 19 on the appointment of a director-general of police for the state.

“We are constrained to put authorities on notice that should this order not be complied with, the court would be constrained to take recourse to the coercive arms of law to ensure compliance of the judgment in Prakash Singh Vs Union of India (2006)…,” a bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha said.

The bench gave the ultimatum while declining to entertain the UPSC’s plea for grant of an additional 60 days to appoint a DGP.

Justice Chandrachud said: “You are trying to evade compliance of our order…. We will seek the presence of... all those officers who are defying our order.”

The top court was referring to its October 17 order wherein it had directed the UPSC and others to ensure that a list of eligible empanelled officers for the post of DGP be prepared by November 30.

In its earlier response the UPSC had pointed out certain deficiencies in the recommendations made by the government of Nagaland.

The UPSC had stated that since the vacancy had arisen on account of the retirement of the incumbent T. John Longkumer, his name was required to be deleted from the eligibility list.

Moreover, it was stated that only officers of the Nagaland cadre can be included in the eligibility list. Longkumer belongs to the Chhattisgarh cadre. The Centre had extended the tenure of Longkumer till February 2023.