Dilip Cherian | Delhi top cop in the race to become DGP of Tamil Nadu

The race is on to succeed the director general of police (DGP) of Tamil Nadu C. Sylendra Babu who is due for superannuation at the end of June. The buzz in Delhi seems to suggest that Delhi police commissioner Sanjay Arora is a sureshot winner, being the most favoured to succeed Mr Babu as Tamil Nadu’s top cop.

Sources have informed DKB that Mr Arora leads a list of 12 IPS officers who have qualified for empanelment and the state government will choose one of the three officers to be shortlisted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). In terms of seniority, Mr Arora bests DGPs B.K. Ravi and Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal.

Of the top three officers, Mr Arora has led two Central armed police forces – CRPF and ITBP – and won the Chief Minister’s Gallantry Medal for Bravery and Heroic Action for his role as the superintendent of police, Special Task Force, that gunned down forest brigand Veerappan. Other officers in the fray include A.K. Viswanathan, Abhash Kumar, T.V. Ravichandran, Seema Agrawal and Amaraesh Pujari. Given the number of years in service required to qualify for empanelment, Rajeev Kumar, Sandeep Rai Rathore, Abhay Kumar Singh and K. Vannia Perumal are also on the list sent to the UPSC by the Tamil Nadu home department.

Mr Arora has apparently consented to be moved out of the national capital, which leaves another prestigious post up for grabs. We may expect another interesting race among UT cadre IPS officers to become Delhi’s top cop.

The sorrows of Ashok Khemka

The Haryana government’s clean chit to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra, five years after filing an FIR for irregular land deals, has left at least one official disappointed. Senior IAS officer Ashok Khemka had cancelled the mutation of a 33-acre land deal involving Mr Vadra and had gained celebrity status as a whistle-blower. In the 2014 elections, the BJP had alleged irregularities in land deals during the Congress regime in Haryana and made it a major electoral issue. Now, the 1991-batch IAS officer is tweeting about whether corruption allegations are only for political gain.

Mr Khemka, who enjoys an image of a squeaky-clean officer, has certainly paid the price for his clean image. He has, in his chequered career, managed to rub every political dispensation that ruled Haryana the wrong way. No party when it comes to power wants to have him around. He has become the most transferred IAS officer, not just in the state but perhaps the entire country. He is currently in his 56th posting in a career spanning nearly 30 years. At present, he is the additional chief secretary of the state archives department, and there’s no saying whether he won’t be moved out again. Sources say that he was moved because he wrote to chief secretary Sarvesh Kaushal that he didn’t have enough work at the science and technology department. Mr Khemka’s current despondency is only the latest blow to his fight for clean administration.

Retired babu starts new innings in Chhattisgarh

In recent times, there has been a trend of state governments following in the footsteps of the Centre by re-engaging retired babus for key positions in the administration. These officers are often handpicked favourites of the ruling government and their appointment serves the dual purpose of maintaining continuity and control over the administrative machinery while also furthering political interests.

The Chhattisgarh government recently set off murmurs in the state’s babu and political circles by engaging D.M. Awasthi, a retired IPS officer of the 1986 batch, as an officer on special duty (OSD) at the police headquarters in Raipur. Mr Awasthi was assigned the responsibility of looking after the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) and Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), both of which are crucial departments for any government. Although Mr Awasthi retired in March earlier this year, he was immediately given a contractual appointment as OSD, indicating his importance to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel’s government. It’s hardly a secret that he was always considered a favourite officer of Mr Baghel, and this move is seen as an attempt to retain his expertise and considerable experience in Mr Baghel’s administration.