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Journalism of Courage
The Election Commission (EC) on Monday transferred Maharashtra DGP Rashmi Shukla, a 1988 batch IPS officer, two weeks ahead of Assembly elections in the state. Earlier, there had been a formal complaint against her by Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, alleging political bias towards the BJP and sought to have her transferred for free and fair polls.
The EC had also pulled up Shukla and Maharashtra Chief Secretary for partial compliance with its orders seeking transfer of officers. State Election Commission (SEC) officials, however, said that the EC order had not mentioned any reason for the transfer.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar has been given additional charge of the post of DGP till a new DGP is appointed. The EC asked the government to send the names of three senior officers, following which names of Sanjay Kumar Verma, Retesh Kumaarr and Sanjeev Singhal were sent. The EC will select the next DGP from among these names.
Shukla has been sent on compulsory leave for a period of one month following which the new government will take a decision on whether she will be reinstated or the selected DGP will continue.
Later in the day, in a letter to the ECI, Nana Patole said, “Given that the service extension was specifically granted for the role of DGP and was not applicable to any other role, it logically follows that upon vacating the DGP position, the officer’s service automatically terminates. Therefore, any reassignment or appointment to another position would be legally impermissible.”
Shukla, who was to retire in June this year was given a two-year tenure as state DGP in January this year.
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