MUMBAI: A day after the Election Commission order, state govt on Tuesday sent director general of police (DGP) Rashmi Shukla on compulsory leave and appointed DG (legal and technical) Sanjay Kumar Verma in her place. Shukla will be on leave until the model code of conduct is in force; Verma will be DGP for the same period.
Following the EC order, govt had submitted names of three senior IPS officers – Vivek Phansalkar, Ritesh Kumar, and Sanjay Verma – to the EC for appointment as DGP. After taking charge, Verma said, “The faith that the Election Commission and the state administration has shown in me, I am thankful and honoured by it. The election process is on and the model code of conduct is in force. We will follow the procedures laid down and ensure that no one has any doubts regarding police action. I will conduct a meeting of officers and take suggestions.”
Verma said, “Our priorities are to ensure full compliance with the code of conduct. The police role is to discharge our duty fearlessly and confidently within the rules and regulations.”
Verma is the officer who headed the special investigation team that probed the 2015 killing of rationalist Govind Pansare. Shukla’s sudden removal was following complaints lodged by state Congress chief Nana Patole and other Opposition functionaries against her. NCP-SP president Sharad Pawar had also recently made critical observations about the role of the law-enforcing agencies.
Following the EC order, Shukla was asked to proceed on leave, and charge was handed over to Mumbai police commissioner Phansalkar. There is now a debate in the bureaucracy over Shukla’s status after the EC order. A senior bureaucrat said that Shukla stood retired from her post as DGP and the two-year extension granted in January 2024 to her was specifically for this post.
Now that she has been asked to proceed on leave until the code of conduct is in place, the question is will she be back as DGP. This is a decision that the govt has to make, he said.