MUMBAI: In a major embarrassment for the Maharashtra government, the Bombay High Court yesterday annulled the appointment of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Anami Narayan Roy as state police chief and said the decision by then Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil reflected “non-application of mind”.
Directing that a new police chief be appointed within four weeks, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice A.S. Bobde criticized the government over Roy’s appointment and said there should be “objectivity and transparency” to the appointments in such important posts.
Roy was appointed to the top post last February, superseding three senior police officers S.S. Virk (DGP Police Housing), Suprakash Chavravarti (DGP, Anti-Corruption Bureau) and V.D. Virkar (DGP, Home Guards), despite a bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal quashing Roy’s appointment and ordering the state government to appoint a new DGP among the state’s three senior most police officers.
The state government and Roy both challenged the CAT order in an appeal in the Bombay High Court. According to police sources, Roy, a blue-eyed boy of Nationalist Congress Party chief and federal Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, was retained and allowed to continue due to the intervention of Pawar.
The court order setting aside the appointment of Roy, sent ripples in the state police and political circles. The decision to appoint Roy to the state DGP post after the retirement of P.S. Pasricha, proved costly for the state government. The government’s contention to have a person of its choice in the top slots, has not only drawn flak from the court but also a slap on the face of the government, the sources said.
A senior IPS official told Arab News that a beleaguered state government would go into a damage control exercise and clear decks for the appointment of Virk, who has just four months for his retirement, as the new DGP of the state, replacing Roy, who may opt for a federal government posting.
