Ex-police chief appointed UPSC member

Former Delhi police commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi was on Tuesday appointed a member of the Union Public Service Commission, a constitutional post for a five-year term till February 2021, when he turns 65 years old.

The Central government has cleared his name as a member of the Union Public Service Commis-sion, which conducts civil services examinations to select the country’s top bureaucrats, diplomats and police officials among others. The commission has a maximum strength of 10 members besides a chairperson.

With Mr Bassi’s appointment, the commission, headed by Deepak Gupta, has reached its full strength. Other members of the commission are Alka Sirohi, David R. Syiemlieh, Manbir Singh, former Navy vice-chief D.K. Dewan, Vinay Mitt-al, Chhatar Singh, Prof. Hem Chandra, Arvind Saxena and Prof. Pradeep Kumar Joshi.

A member of the commission can have with a six-year term or till attai-ning age of 65 years. These members are mainly experts chosen from various streams, including officers from IAS, IPS and other All-India services.

A 1977 batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, Mr Bassi retired as the Delhi police chief in February on turning 60 years old.

Mr Bassi’s tenure as the Delhi police commissioner was controversial, with frequent run-ins with the AAP government led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over police autonomy and jurisdiction issues.

His controversial role in the JNU row probably lost him post-retirement job as an information commissioner. His name was initially cleared for the post in Central Information Commission, but was dropped from the list by a selection panel led by the Prime Minister.

Mr Bassi faced charges of inaction by the Delhi police as violent mobs had beaten up journalists, teachers and students inside Patiala House Courts complex during a hearing of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar’s sedition case.