Soon after 1988-batch officer Param Bir Singh was appointed as DG ACB earlier this year, Pandey had told The Indian Express that he would be writing to the state.ALLEGING THAT he has been overlooked when it came to postings like that of Mumbai Police Commissioner and Director General of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), senior IPS officer Sanjay Pandey has written to the state government, terming the decisions “arbitrary” and “illegal”.
Pandey, a 1986-batch officer, who is currently posted as Director General (Home Guards), has stated that since he is the seniormost officer in the state after DGP Subodh Jaiswal, he should have been considered for the posts of Mumbai Police commissioner and DG ACB.
Soon after 1988-batch officer Param Bir Singh was appointed as DG ACB earlier this year, Pandey had told The Indian Express that he would be writing to the state. Singh had superseded three officers — Pandey (1986), D Kanakaratnam (DG and Managing Director of Maharashtra State Security Corporation) and Bipin Bihari (DG, Maharashtra State Police Housing Corporation). Both were from the 1987 batch. The five-page letter that was sent to the additional chief secretary (Home) and the chief minister last month, stated: “As per convention, ever since September 2015, Mumbai Police had seen three commissioners, all of them second senior police officers of the state. After the retirement of the DGP on 28th September 2019, I became the second seniormost officer. While appointing the recent commissioner of police this convention was broken for the first time, ostensibly to deny me the post.”
Sanjay Barve, a 1987-batch officer was appointed as the Mumbai Police commissioner in February, leaving the post of DG ACB vacant. Later, Param Bir Singh was appointed as the DG ACB. Pandey wrote, “..these established positions as per law, too, have been completely overlooked in the recent appointment of DG ACB. Besides breaking established guidelines and conventions, as in the case of commissioner of police Mumbai, even established law as per Hon Courts is being overlooked. All this as per my view, based on facts, is being done to ensure that I remain on sidelines and suffer slow and gradual demise of my policing career for reasons unknown to me.”
Pandey is known to have investigated several high-profile cases and has in the past been at loggerheads with the state government over his promotions.
Pandey confirmed that he had written the letter but refused to reveal its contents.
