Mumbai: The Maharashtra government Monday appointed 1986-batch IPS officer Sanjay Pandey as Commissioner of Mumbai Police. Pandey, who had been in charge of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC) prior to this, has only months left in service and is set to retire in June.
Pandey’s predecessor, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, has been made MSSC managing director. Pandey had also been holding additional charge as acting director general of police (DGP) of Maharashtra since April last year, and was relieved of it only a little over a week ago.
This is the second instance in the past year when a former DGP — or ‘acting DGP’ — has been made Mumbai Police Commissioner. Nagrale was also Maharashtra DGP before being made Mumbai’s top cop. He succeeded Param Bir Singh, who was shunted out in the aftermath of the Antilia bomb scare and Sachin Waze cases.
After taking charge as commissioner Monday, Pandey did not address the press, as is the general practice. Instead he tweeted.
It's an honour to serve the city as the new Commissioner of the Mumbaikar’s very own @MumbaiPolice.
Ensuring the safety & well-being of every citizen in Mumbai shall continue to be our topmost priority.
— CP Mumbai Police (@CPMumbaiPolice) February 28, 2022
Pandey’s appointment as Mumbai Police Commissioner comes at a time when the Maharashtra government and the Centre are at loggerheads, with the former accusing the latter of misusing central agencies against state leaders.
He also takes charge days after an FIR was filed against former IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in an illegal phone-tapping case, and another case was registered by Mumbai Police against Union minister Narayan Rane and his MLA son Nitesh Rane for their alleged remarks on Disha Salian, former manager of Sushant Singh Rajput.
Pandey is believed to be in the state government’s good books. His appointment is being seen as a strategic move by the state government. Last month, the Bombay High Court had referred to Pandey as the state’s “blue-eyed” officer and accused the government of favouring him. It had added that “such an officer [an officer favoured by the government] should never be considered for post of DGP” as “there will be a relationship of give and take”.
The court was hearing a PIL regarding the appointment of a full-time DGP in Maharashtra.
In his capacity as DGP, Pandey had been tasked with conducting the probe against Param Bir Singh, who has levelled charges of corruption against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Pandey was instrumental in filing FIRs and conducting enquiries against Singh, who has been accused of allowing alleged lapses in the probe into the recovery of explosives outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai home, Antilia.
Pandey’s appointment as commissioner has been welcomed by former and serving officers.
“He should be able to address the problems of the common persons as far as prevention of crime and protection of masses [is concerned], and particularly we look forward to any initiative he can take forward in technological intervention,” said former Maharashtra DGP Praveen Dixit.
“There is a lot of hope that he will use this remaining period, which the government has been kind to give him, to best of his ability,” he added.
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Most senior police officer in Maharashtra
Pandey is currently the most senior police officer in the state (he is 59). Rajnish Seth, who was made DGP on 19 February, is about two years junior to him.
While this may strike many as strange — it is not common for a DGP to be made commissioner — those in the force play down the situation, claiming Pandey wouldn’t report to Seth.
“Mumbai Police commissioners report to the home department directly, and it is not that he will be working under the DGP,” said a retired IPS officer who didn’t wish to be named.
He added: “For day-to-day working, he will be reporting to the home department, as Mumbai Police is different and Maharashtra Police is different. This is more an academic problem than a real problem.”
An IIT-Kanpur graduate, Pandey first came into the limelight when he served as the DCP of Zone VIII in Dharavi, after the 1992-93 Bombay riots. He was able to maintain peace in the densely populated area, which won him the appreciation of civic society members. During his tenure as DCP Zone VIII, he had once arrested the late Union minister Gopinath Munde, for sitting on a dharna at the police station.
His next moment in the spotlight came when he handled investigations in the Cobbler Scam — in which shoe firms had been charged with misappropriating concessionary funds — as DCP of the Economic Offences Wing in 1998. While the probe in that case was still ongoing, however, Pandey was transferred to Jalna. He later received central deputation and also served as part of the PM’s security unit in 1999.
Pandey resigned from the force in 2000, but later applied for long leave.
The years that followed saw him involved in various litigations against the state government. In 2011, Pandey moved the high court, alleging that he had been kept on “compulsory waiting” for over three years (without being given any post). It was only after the court intervened that he received a posting.
In 2015, Pandey was made the ADG of Home Guard. He was appointed as acting DGP under the incumbent Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
In a Facebook post on 19 February, Pandey wrote, “I have faced many a hurdle and attempt to undermine my work in the past, and indeed won recognition for a job sincerely done. One is used to being a recipient of bouquets and brickbats, all with the same equanimity. The only irony in present juncture is that in recent times, the system did work to undo some of injustice done to my career record in the past.”
Talking about Pandey’s coming tenure as Mumbai commissioner, the retired IPS officer who didn’t want to be named said, “It will be challenging for him to be in this hot seat and take tough decisions almost instantaneously and, may be, against sensitive persons as well. But I am sure with his vast experience he will be able to meet this challenge.”
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‘Decision-oriented, dashing, fearless’
Among colleagues, Pandey is known for his straight-forwardness. Present and former police officers reached by ThePrint spoke of Pandey as being “decision-oriented, dashing, and fearless”.
“Officers are quite happy with him as he takes personal interests in their problems and addresses them as early as he can. That is positive, as this boosts the morale of the force,” said the anonymous retired IPS officer quoted above.
An incumbent officer agreed with this assessment.
“He is an officer with high integrity, an unimpeachable integrity, and very straight-forward. He is not afraid to take any decisions,” said the officer.
The new commissioner is also equally popular among the constabulary.
“He is like a God to them because for any problems, even in case of family issues, he has gone out of the way to help them,” added the incumbent officer.
His doors were always open even as DGP and anybody could walk in with their problems to meet him, he said. “He is very accessible. You can ask anyone and this is what they will tell you,” the officer added.
Controversial appointment as DGP
Pandey was made the state’s ‘acting DGP’ last year. Under him, and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale, five FIRs were registered against Param Bir Singh.
Pandey’s posting as DGP was contentious as his name had not been recommended for the post by the UPSC panel to the state government (as is the norm for such appointments). But the state government was adamant on his appointment.
A PIL was also filed against his appointment in the Bombay High Court in January. In February, the court pulled up the state government for “favouring Pandey”.
The government was forced to remove Pandey from the post of DGP on 18 February. Pandey then went on leave, before being made Mumbai Police Commissioner Monday.
On 19 February, after being relieved of his charge as DGP, Pandey wrote on Facebook, “Today, I have given up this additional charge with the courage of conviction and absence of regrets that comes with a clean conscience. I leave this position with my conscience clear that neither did I crave for the additional charge as a DGP nor did I flinch when the responsibility was given to me.”
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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