The Democratic Front (DF) Government on Monday found itself on the defensive over its decision to appoint Rakesh Maria as the Mumbai Police Commissioner by ignoring the seniority of Vijay Kamble and Ahmed Javed, with the two aggrieved IPS officers going on leave after Maria assumed the charge.
Informed sources said that both Additional Director of Police (Highway traffic) Kamble and Additional Director General of Police (law and Order) Javed — who were transferred and handed relatively low-profile posts as the Thane Police Commissioner and Director-General of the Maharashtra Home Guards respectively - had sent off their letters of leave absence to the State Director General of Police (DGP).
Unconfirmed reports said that the two IPS officers had not specified the period of leave of absence in their letters. While Maria is 1981 batch IPS officer, Kamble and Javed came from the 1979 and 1980 batches of the IPS respectively. Though all the three IPS officers were in the contention for the Mumbai CP’s post, the ruling NCP, which holds the State Home portfolio, tilted the scales in favour of Maria.
Maria’s appointment to the post came in the face of a stiff resistance from some senior Congress leaders. While Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had thrown his weight behind Kamble, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithiviraj Chavan had shown his preference for Javed.
Javed became the first causality, as he was promoted and posted as the Director General, State Home Guards on Saturday morning, hours before Maria’s appointment as the CP. Kamble fell out of the race, after a late evening meeting between Chief Minister Chavan and State Home Minister RR Patil, who pushed Maria’s name hard for the coveted post.
Both Chavan and Patil on Monday defended the decision to appoint Maria as the Mumbai CP, saying it was “administratively correct”. “We have gone purely by the rules. There is a rule, there is a GR, an ordinance signed by Governor under which the Police Establishment Board was set up....we have gone by it,” the Chief Minister said, while talking to media persons in home town of Karad in western Maharashtra.
Speaking in a similar vein, the State Home Minister denied that there had been any “bias” in the Maria’s appointment as the Mumbai CP. “We have the Police Establishment Board.. It was not just the seniority, but several factors were considered. No officer has complained to me about any injustice meted to him”
“One of the factors considered was who of the three would be able to serve a longer period in the post. In the appointment of police officers and postings, we do not consider race, creed or religion....We have never applied such criteria,” Patil said.
Patil said that he was confident that Kamble, currently on leave, would report back to duty in seven days. “He is a senior IPS officer. If need be I will talk to him and persuade him to return to work,” the Home minister said.
Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra legislative Council Vinod Tawde slammed the DF Government for its decision to appoint Maria as the Mumbai CP.
Speaking at a public rally at Beed in Marathwada on Sunday night, Tawde dubbed Maria’s appointment as a “political move” and said: “All of us were expecting that Kamble would be appointed as the new CP of Mumbai. His seniority was ignored and Maria was appointed to the post. I wonder if Maharashtrians like Kamble are unfit for holding the top postsIJ”