Pasricha in the Mumbai hot seat

Unlike other recent appointments in the force, this one seemed free from controversy. Keen to limit the political fallout of the Telgi Scam a year before Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, CM Sushilkumar Shinde, Deputy CM Chhagan Bhujbal and NCP leader Sharad Pawar are said to have discussed the matter before deciding on Pasricha.

Shinde mulled over various options for the post — regarded a prestigious one by the state’s IPS cadre. He had a list of nine names before him including those of Intelligence Bureau’s Regional Director Sudhir Kumar, Additional DGP K.K. Kashyap (Law and Order), Principal Secretary J.D. Virkar, Commissioner (Intelligence) V.N. Deshmukh and Pasricha. Finally it narrowed down to Sudhir Kumar and Pasricha. ‘‘We took a consensus decision to avoid controversy,’’ Bhujbal said today. ‘‘The two things which went in favour of Pasricha were his decade-long experience in Mumbai and seniority among probables,’’ said sources. Specialised in traffic management, Pasricha has spent over 10 years in Mumbai in different posts including DCP (Traffic), JCP (Law and Order), IGP (Traffic) and Intelligence Commissioner. Currently, he was Addl DGP (Administration).

The incumbent, R.S. Sharma, who handed over charge to his subordinate Satya Pal Singh and proceeded on leave after being blamed for ‘‘acts of commission and omission’’ in the fake stamp investigation, has been transferred to Pasricha’s post. He is due to retire on November 30.

The order on Pasricha’s appointment was issued in the evening though deliberations were held by Shinde, Bhujbal and senior bureaucrats earlier in the day.