Hemant Nagrale, Param Bir Singh top contenders for the post of Maharashtra DGP

With director-general of police (DGP) Subodh Kumar Jaiswal being appointed to head the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 1987-batch Indian Police Service

With director-general of police (DGP) Subodh Kumar Jaiswal being appointed to head the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), 1987-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Hemant Nagrale and 1988-batch officer Param Bir Singh and Rashmi Shukla are top contenders for the post.

Subodh Kumar Jaiswal.

Central government’s department of personnel and training issued an order on Wednesday appointing 1985-batch Jaiswal as director-general of CISF. Jaiswal is expected to be relieved early next week, with additional charge handed over to one of the director generals. The state government, at the same time, will begin the procedure for the new appointment to replace Jaiswal.

Though Sanjay Pandey (1986-batch) is the senior-most officer, according to the officials from the home department, he is unlikely to be considered for the post, because of his number of litigations against the administration. Pandey is director-general (DG) of home guards. Followed in the seniority are Bipin Bihari and Surendra Pandey (both 1987 batch) and serving as DG, Police Housing Corporation and DG, prisons respectively. The officers, however, are out of the zone of consideration as they are retiring in January and February respectively.

After Sanjay Pandey, Hemant Nagarare (DG, legal and technical), Param Bir Singh (Mumbai Police commissioner), Rashmi Shukla and Rajnish Sheth (all 1987 batch) are the senior-most officers to be considered for the post.

“We will send names of the officers who have completed 30 years of the services to the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) for the empanelment. Based on the seniority and the confidential reports during service tenure, the UPSC sends back panel of three officers to choose from. The chief minister and home minister take a final call on the appointment,” said an official from the home department.

The Opposition has, however, slammed the state government for losing a senior and efficient officer. “Jaiswal opted for the central deputation as he was fed up with the style of working of the state government. He was not being taken into confidence while dealing in many administrative decisions including transfers of senior officers. Upset over this, Jaiswal opted for the central deputation,” said leader of Opposition and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.