If the shunting out of Mumbai’s commissioner of police, which could bring on his resignation from service, shocked the country on Tuesday, it is primarily because Rakesh Maria appeared to be piloting the sensational Sheena Bora murder case, involving well-heeled socialites, remarkably well and with speed.
People are therefore apt to wonder if Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, who evidently pushed for the senior policeman’s ouster even as the murder mystery that has transfixed the country is at a delicate stage and looked ever closer to being solved, had any particular interest in removing Mr Maria from his post. The top cop was personally leading the investigation since it looked an extremely complex case and involved influential, well-networked individuals.
To head off criticism, the state government announced that the former CP would continue to be in charge of the probe. Naturally, he would be doing no such thing if a sense of humiliation leads him to put in his papers. But even if he doesn’t do that, the chain of command is such that Mr Maria would be wanting in authority even if he is kept in charge of the investigation in a tokenistic gesture.
This episode speaks volumes of the ineptness of the Maharashtra government, in particular its lack of sensitivity to police morale in the complex crime environment of a major city like India’s financial and underworld capital and to public sentiment.
Knowledgeable people have observed that police morale is likely to suffer when a high-profile official with a record of delivering in difficult cases is removed on what seems like little more than political whim. In the wake of this incident, it does appear that the chief minister may have suddenly rendered himself politically vulnerable — not only in relation to the ruling BJP’s political opponents in the state but also in the context of ambitious individuals within the ruling party.
Mr Fadnavis had made strong statements when it was reported that Mr Maria had held a “secret” meeting with the fugitive Lalit Modi, the former cricket czar, in London, and said he would seek explanations. The CP said he had kept his bosses, including the then chief minister and the Union home ministry, informed. Even so there was a sense that the Mumbai CP’s tenure would be cut short.
It does seem not a little odd that a top police official has been ejected for having a chat with the former IPL chief (which he claims was in the line of duty), but the political bigwigs who are in the eye of the storm — external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje — are going about as though nothing has happened.
