Reshuffle of cops to add to MVA government’s woes?

MUMBAI: The minor reshuffle of top police officers prompted by the state to appoint a new police commissioner for Mumbai to control the damage caused by the Sachin Vaze case could become a headache for the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

The state home department is in the process of sending a list of 12 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of the rank of director general to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for the appointment of the new director general of police (DGP) from among them. Chief secretary Sitaram Kunte confirmed that the government is in the process of sending the list to UPSC.

The government could be in a difficult situation while appointing its new state police chief or DGP after the empanelment is ratified by UPSC, a process mandatory for the appointment. Among the four senior most officers in the race, three are the ones whom the government would not like to appoint for the post for various reasons.

The empanelment of three officers from the list is mandatory as per the Supreme Court ruling given in 2006 in Prakash Singh case. The state has discretion of picking one of the three empanelled officers by UPSC.

The home department has enlisted 12 Indian Police Service (IPS) from four batches (1986 to 1989) for the empanelment. The top five in the list are Sanjay Pandey, Hemant Nagrale , Param Bir Singh, Rashmi Shukla and Rajnish Seth.

Nagrale was appointed as Mumbai Police commissioner on Wednesday after Singh was shunted out following the inept handling of the Antilia explosives scare and the alleged involvement of former cop Sachin Vaze in the case.

Seth, who is the director general of the anti-corruption bureau, was appointed as acting DGP on Wednesday. Shukla is currently on central deputation in Central Reserve Police Force. Pandey, the senior most contender (1986 batch), has openly expressed his displeasure for being sidelined amid the reshuffle. He was appointed as DG, Maharashtra State Security Corporation, which is assumed to be a side posting and has not been given any key posting in the recent past owing to his legal battles against the government.

Shukla is assumed to not be in the list of MVA government’s “favourite officers“. A section of ministers in ruling parties believe that she was close to the previous Bharatiya Janata Partyled state government.

“If UPSC choses three from the four senior most officers, Pandey and Singh would be the ones whom the government may not want to appoint as DGP, and it would be left with no option but to reappoint Nagrale for the post. When Subodh Kumar Jaisawal was appointed for the post in 2019, Pandey was not empanelled by UPSC, while the other two officers were Nagrale and Bipin Bihari, who retired in January. If Pandey is dropped again by UPSC, the third name could be that of Shukla. In that scenario, too, the government will have no option but to reappoint Nagrale as DGP,” said an official from the home department.

If UPSC empanels Seth, who is fifth in the list in terms of seniority, the government is likely to continue him in the post by permanently appointing him as DGP.

“To avoid the embarrassment, the government is expected to inform the UPSC panel about Shukla’s deputation in central services. In such a scenario, the state can expect Seth to be empanelled in the list of UPSC. The state chief secretary is a member of the UPSC panel that shortlists three names for the post. He may present the state’s case before the panel,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Pandey has written a letter to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray complaining about the ‘injustice’ meted out to him. “You overlooked me for the post of DG anti-corruption bureau, which was given to a junior officer, despite the tradition of giving it to the senior most officer. I was sidelined even when it came to the appointment to the Mumbai Police commissioner’s post. When Jaiswal chose to go on central deputation, the additional charge was not given to me, but to a junior officer, which was illegal as per SC ruling. The career built over several years is thus demolished due to some personal prejudices,” he said. Pandey confirmed writing the letter but refused to speak on the matter any further.

When asked about the letter and the appointment of DGP, additional chief secretary (home) Manu Kumar Srivastava refused to comment.

Hemant Nagrale was appointed Mumbai Police chief on Wed.