Rakesh Asthana As Delhi Police Chief: Controversial Appointment
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-07-30 09:55:36
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There are two main things that are controversial in the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the commissioner of Delhi Police, apart from the fact that he is considered close to the ruling dispensation at the Centre. First, he was appointed just 4 days before he was due to retire from service. Second, he does not belong to AGMUT (earlier Union Territory) cadre. It is not the first time that both these things have happened, but normally they do not happen. Hence, it is being seen as a political appointment and has led to the Delhi assembly passing a resolution against it.
Given the nature of the relationship between the government of Delhi and the Centre, there are two officers - the Lieutenant Governor and the Delhi Police chief - that are seen as Centre's men out to put stumbling blocks in the functioning of the elected government in Delhi. Since Asthana has been imposed from a different cadre, it will also lower the morale of the force which is already under fire for its handling of several recent events like the Delhi riots and CAA-NRC protests, as also the repeated run-ins with students at the JNU and the Jamia Millia universities. It would have been better to have promoted an officer from within the ranks.
Then, Asthana's name was recently struck from the list of probable candidates for the post CBI chief as the Supreme Court pointed out he had less than six months of service remaining. Otherwise too, the apex court has said that it is wrong to appoint an IPS officer close to retirement to any post by extending his or her service. Policing Delhi is a tough job given the pulls and pressures from different quarters. Although Asthana is a senior and experienced officer, his closeness to the power-that-be at the Centre might work against him and all his decisions will perpetually be under the scanner.
