New Delhi: With Delhi police commissioner Amulya Patnaik due to retire from service on January 31, the hunt for his replacement has begun. However, with the elections to the Delhi assembly having been announced, and with the the model code of conduct being in place, the Ministry of Home Affairs will now have to seek the Election Commission’s concurrence for doing so.
MHA can appoint from UPSC-approved panel
Explaining the process involved, former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami said when a vacancy arises on account of superannuation, “a proposal is made” (by the government) and “it is then considered on merit by the Election Commission. It may agree or disagree”.
He said, “The proposal goes from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the Election Commission. If they are not asking for an extension and proposing a panel, the panel is then approved by the Union Public Service Commission. The selection is then made by the MHA in a normal course and then it is sent to the Election Commission for concurrence. They then decide on the issue.”
As for other scenarios, he said, “When an existing person is to be transferred or when the Commission asks for a transfer of the DGP or any police officer, the practice is that a panel of three is sent and the selection is made by the Election Commission.” Subject to approval of the Election Commission, he said a serving officer can also be given extension.
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Extension appears unlikely, many names being considered
Though a report in a national daily recently stated that Patnaik is expected to be given an extension, as he has headed Delhi police for the last three years and since the ongoing elections would not leave his replacement with any time to come to terms with the situation, a more recent report in the same daily said the Centre has drawn up a list of prospective candidates for the post and so he would not get an extension.
This recent report quoting an unnamed source said the Ministry of Home Affairs has sought the poll panel’s nod to replace Patnaik since he has already completed three years in the post and thus an extension would not only require a permission from the Commission but also bending of the rules.
In the case of Commissioner of Delhi police, the selection involves a close scrutiny of the person’s ability to not only maintain law and order but also to meet the exacting demands of a metropolitan city housing various important national and international institutions, dignitaries and officials.
Names of both UT cadre officers, ‘outsiders’ doing the rounds
Since the Commissioner of Delhi Police is usually drawn from among the UT Cadre officials, the names of a number of senior officers from this cadre are now doing the rounds for this post. These include 1987-batch IPS officer Taj Hassan, S.B.K. Singh and Balaji Srivastava of the 1988 batch and Sandeep Goyal of the 1989 batch.
Apart from this 1984 batch officer Rakesh Asthana, and 1985 batch officers Ajay Kashyap, Prabhat Singh and S.N. Srivastava are stated to be in contention for this important post.
Some media reports have also indicated that the Centre might bring in an officer from an outside cadre as was done by the Vajpayee government in 1999 when it brought in UP-cadre office Ajai Raj Sharma to head the Delhi police.
This time, the names of 1985 batch officers Subodh Jaiswal of Maharashtra cadre and S.M. Sahai of Jammu and Kashmir cadre; and A.K. Sharma of Gujarat cadre of the 1987 batch, are doing the rounds. While Jaiswal and Sahai have extensive experience in dealing with terrorism and intelligence, Sharma has served in CBI and CRPF.
The final call would be taken by the MHA which is expected to send a panel of three to five names for the UPSC for consideration.
Despite facing six cases, Asthana also in running?
Meanwhile, a news report in a web portal has claimed that Asthana is a frontrunner for the post. A 1984-batch, Gujarat cadre officer, he is widely believed to be a close confidante of the BJP central leadership. He has investigated several high profile cases in the past including the Sabarmati Express fire in Godhra in 2002 and the 1997 fodder scam in Bihar in which he arrested former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
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The report claimed that ultimately it may be a toss-up between the controversial former Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation and Srivastava, who is now serving as Director General of Puducherry police.
Citing a source in the Election Commission, the report also stated that the poll panel was expected to give a go-ahead to the new appointment since it was a “routine appointment”.
HC has directed CBI to file final report on charges against Asthana
Incidentally, Asthana, who was in 2016 made the acting director of CBI after the retirement of Anil Sinha, had fallen out with former Delhi police commissioner Alok Verma, who was formally made the director of the investigation agency. Thereafter they had both accused each other of corruption. While Verma retired from the post, Asthana was posted as Director of Bureau of Civil Aviation and Security (BCAS).
However, Asthana is still facing investigation in six cases of corruption – two pertaining to Sterling Biotech case, two for arrest of journalist Upendra Rai, and one for CBI searches on a caterer at the Palika Services Officers’ Institute (PSOI) in Delhi.
The report said the CBI has also been directed by the Delhi high court to submit a final report into these charges.