Rajnish Seth takes over as new DGP. (Express) The Maharashtra government on Friday appointed Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief Rajnish Seth as the DGP of Maharashtra in place of Sanjay Pandey, who was the acting DGP of the state for over 10 months. The government’s hand was forced after the Bombay High Court pulled up the Maharashtra government last week for “favouring” Pandey, whose name did not make to the list of three officers shortlisted by the UPSC as per the Prakash Singh judgment.
The court had given the government time till Monday, February 21, to take a decision on DGP appointment.
Seth, who likes to keep a low profile, belongs to the 1988 IPS batch. He will retire in December 2023 and thus will have a long tenure as the DGP of the state. Seth’s father S K Seth was the additional director of CBI.
In March last year, Seth was appointed as acting DGP before he was transferred as DG, ACB, and Pandey was brought in his place.
The decision on the new state ACB chief, a sensitive post, is likely to be taken at a later date. While Pandey is set to go back to his original post of heading the Maharashtra State Security Corporation, sources say that he is yet to make up his mind about going back to his original posting.
Pandey, who the state government had relied on to conduct an enquiry against IPS officer Param Bir Singh, had taken over as the chief of the over 2 lakh-strong force on April 10, 2021, soon after the Antilia threat case emerged.
As a fallout of the case, Singh was shunted out and later, allegations of ‘cash for postings’ scam in the Maharashtra Police had also emerged.
Last week, the Bombay High Court had pulled up the Maharashtra government for “favouring” acting DGP Pandey and asked it to take a decision with regard to the DGP’s post by February 21. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and state Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil had held a meeting on Thursday, but could not arrive at a decision.
Seth was one of the three officers whose names had been recommended to the Maharashtra government by a UPSC panel, in line with the Prakash Singh judgment on police reforms. The other two names were those of Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale and DG, Civil Defence, K Venkatesham.
During the hearing in the Bombay High Court on Thursday, the court said the state government has gone out of its way to upgrade Pandey’s gradings in the annual confidential report (ACR), adding that “such an officer should never be considered for the post of DGP”.
After the court’s observations, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni said the state government was prepared to reconsider its position on appointment of “permanent” DGP and sought two weeks’ time for the same, which the HC accepted.
The bench had observed that a decision must be taken (on UPSC recommendation) on the next date of hearing on February 21, adding, “ If need arises, we will deliver the judgment.”
The Maharashtra government had appointed Sanjay Pandey as the state DGP on April 10 last year, before asking him to oversee a probe against former Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh.
A proposal to ratify the DG’s appointment was sent to UPSC on March 18, 2021, and later the UPSC sought a lot of details at various intervals. However, his name was not included in the panel of three recommended to the state government.
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