MUMBAI, 1 December 2007 — The fate of state Director General of Police Dr. Pavender Singh Pasricha and Mumbai Police Commissioner Dhananjay Jadhav, who are set to retire at midnight, is still in limbo following a lack of response from the Home Ministry over the state’s request for extensions.
There was no response till yesterday evening from the federal government to the proposal sent a month ago by the Maharashtra government seeking another three months extensions for the police officers.
The reasons cited by the state government for extending the officers’ services was that the two were required for implementating the recommendations of the Srikrishna panel report and for the 300th anniversary celebrations of Sikh leader Guru Govind Singh to be held in Nanded. Both the reasons were found to be ‘ridiculous’ by the Home Ministry.
The federal minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj Chavan said that he was not aware whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would intervene in the matter as it is the prerogative of the Home Minister Shivraj Patil to decide on the state request.
Chitkala Zutshi, the additional chief secretary (home), confirmed that no official communication from the federal government had been received as of yesterday evening on the matter, and the state government has no discretion on the extensions of IPS officers.
Reliable state government sources said that Patil was holding back the extensions because it would directly affect the promotions of IPS officials in six states and indirectly impact 30 states.
A top state IPS officer said that the chances of the two top cops getting extensions of service appear to be dim, as the federal Home Ministry has included “negative remarks” on the file.
There is renewed buzz in IPS circles on who will be the new DGP and Mumbai police commissioner. There are at least three contenders for the post of DGP — S. Chakravarthy, who is DGP Home Guards, J.D. Virkar, who is DGP Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), and A.N. Roy, who heads the Maharashtra Housing and Development Corporation.
Even more interesting is the race for the new city police chief. Currently, the seniormost additional director general of police in the state is Jayant Umranikar, presently Pune police commissioner.
However, after Pasricha’s retirement he will be promoted as DGP and hence is unlikely to be considered for the post. Next in line is Hasan Gafoor, who is currently posted as additional DGP in the ACB. Then there is Thane commissioner D. Shivanandan, who has had a successful stint in Mumbai as chief of the elite crime branch.
