The Bhutanese Leading the way.
On 11th June 2026, the new Additional Chief of Police (ACOP) Colonel Lhundrup Dorji assumed office in a ceremony. The ACOP is the second highest position in the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) after the Chief of Police (COP).
The new ACOP is the former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Samtse, and this has triggered some unhappiness in some quarters of the RBP.
This reporter received an anonymous complaint alleging that the appointment was made bypassing the current Deputy Chiefs of Police (who are third in the hierarchy), circumventing the Police Service Board and said there is a perception of favoritism.
The main crux of the complaint seems to be that promoting an SSP directly to the ACOP position, bypassing the position of the more senior four DCOPs, violates the established principle of seniority in the armed forces.
Another main allegation was that the Police Service Board (PSB) through which such promotions must be processed was bypassed entirely, and the COP appears to have exercised unilateral discretion.
The complaint also alleges that this will affect the morale of the police, create internal disharmony and factionalism and undermines rule of law.
This reporter met with the COP Brigadier Phub Gyaltshen with questions over the legal basis, process and logic of the appointment of the new ACOP.
The Chief said that under the tenure of the former Chief, based on the Police Act, the Service Rules and Regulations (SRR) were drawn up and even implemented, but later when the RBP was trying to process some thobthangs for its civilian staff, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) refused to pay saying the service rules of the RBP had not yet been approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA).
The Chief said that as a result, under his tenure, a special committee comprising police officials of different ranks, who were sent to the National Search and Rescue Training Centre (NSARTC) in Tashigatshel to review the SRR, and also come up with proper rules for the selection of ACOP and DCOP.
He said the recommendations of this committee were submitted to the PSB where he is not a member and the board approved it and so it was incorporated into the final SRR 2026.
He said this final and revised SRR 2026 was submitted to the MoHA, and it received approval from the Home Minister on 1st May 2026.
The 2009 Police Act earlier specified a rigid top-down appointment process for ACOP and DCOPs requiring Royal Assent from the Druk Gyalpo based on recommendations through the Prime Minister and the PSB.
The 2022 Amendment changed this inserting Section 16C, which shifts the governance of these specific executive tiers to internal rules. It states, “The appointment, promotion, position, tenure, and removal of the other Officers (includes ACOP and DCOPs) and Non-commissioned Officials shall be as determined by the Police Service Rules.”
The Chief claimed that in the past there was no proper procedure and rules on the appointment of the ACOP and even the DCOPs. He said it was based on seniority and the discretion of the Chief, and so the RBP wanted to have it based on merit and have it clearly spelt out in the rules.
He said as per the SRR 2026 under the eligibility criteria for ACOP, a person serving in the rank of Colonel for three years is eligible for the ACOP post.
This basically means that it is no longer just DCOPs of Colonel rank who are only eligible, but the position is wide open to SSPs and SPs holding the rank of Colonel.
Lhundrup Dorji had been appointed as a Colonel since March 2019 which is more than 7 years.
The Chief said that the RBP is moving away from the old armed forces system logic of just going by seniority, as they want to go by ability and merit.
The SRR 2026 on the issue of appointment says the policy is that appointment of a police person shall be right person for the right job for organization development.
It says appointments shall be made to reward and motivate competent and potential police persons by providing fair, equitable, merit-based career advancement opportunities.
The SRR also says the appointment to any position shall ensure that the rank and seniority of the police person is duly considered in reference to the rank and seniority of other police persons in the various branches, divisions and units in the organizational structure.
The SRR under the eligibility criteria for ACOP says the person ‘may have served in the position of the DCOP,’ apart from others like being professionally sound with highest integrity, exceptional leadership quality, management skills and highest aggregate rating in performance appraisal rating system.
It says the PSB shall initiate the assessment for selection and recommend for appointment.
The COP said that the term ‘may have served in the position of the DCOP’ means that the person applying should not have compulsorily served there otherwise it would be going back to the seniority concept.
The COP said that the PSB had its own eligibility criteria and assessment framework under the SRR.
The criteria exclude officers on secondment, requires 12 months of active service as of the date of the nomination for the appointments and a candidate should have at least one year of active service left.
The Chief said accordingly those senior officers who are on extension or contract beyond their service period are not eligible.
He said that meant that of the four DCOPs two of them are on extension or contract and not eligible and only one was eligible and one DCOP post was vacant.
Then even if there were those with Colonel rank, they would not be eligible if they had less than one year’s active service left.
The PSB had an assessment score of 50 for the ACOP post of which 5 was for seniority or total years of active service, 25 for Annual Individual Assessment Rating, 15 for PSB assessment and 5 points from Chief of Police assessment.
The DCOP also had similar scores and criteria.
The Chief said that the highest scoring candidate was to get the ACOP post and the next four were to get the DCOP post.
He said one ACOP and 4 future DCOPs were chosen and while the ACOP is appointed the vacant DCOP post will be filled soon and the three DCOP posts will be filled when the current DCOPs complete their tenure.
The COP said that he is not a member of the PSB and they take their own decisions. The PSB is supposed to be chaired by the ACOP with the Director of the Department of Law and Order as the Deputy Chair but since the ACOP was being appointed the Director of Law and Order became the Chair.
The other members are a DCOP as a Member Secretary, one head of the Police Training Institutes; one Head of the Field Division (SP); one Head from Special Division; one Head of the Police Station (OC); and two Non-Commissioned Officers of which one will be a lady. Except for ACOP and the Director the members’ tenure are two years and shall not be reappointed for more than two consecutive terms.
The members of the PSB are appointed by the Minister for Home Affairs upon recommendation of the Chief of Police.
The Chief said that the SRR had been circulated widely and it was made widely known to all police officials because they have to function as per it.
The PSB had its sitting on 11th May 2026 to decide the criteria for the selection of ACOP and DCOPs.
On the allegation that morale had been impacted due to seniority not being considered, the Chief said that on the contrary he has heard that it is encouraging the young officers as the main criteria is now merit and performance and no longer just seniority.
The complainant had asked whether an appeal could be made but under the Police Act, the decisions of the PSB are considered final as the highest decision-making body.
The DCOP (Crime) oversees crime-related operations across 14 divisions and 40 police stations. Another DCOP is responsible for administration and finance, while the DCOP (Special Police Department) oversees fire and rescue services, traffic management, prisons, VIP protection, and the security of vital installations. The DCOP (Intelligence Bureau) is responsible for intelligence related to national security and major crimes, and also serves as the liaison with Interpol.
