‘On day of shooting’: Chidambaram questions extension to Delhi Police chief

Amulya Patnaik, who was due to retire today, was given tenure extension of a month in view of the assembly polls in the national capital.

Congress leader P Chidambaram has questioned the one-month extension given to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik on Thursday.

“The Police Commissioner of Delhi gets an extension on the day there is a shooting in the presence of a substantial police force. Incomprehensible and reprehensible. One has got an extension, but who has been suspended for the deplorable shooting yesterday?” he said on Twitter on Friday morning. 

Patnaik, who was due to retire today, was given tenure extension of a month in view of the assembly polls in the national capital. The Union Home Ministry released the order on Thursday after getting a nod from the Election Commission.

The Home Ministry had written to the Election Commission seeking permission for extending Patnaik’s tenure because the national capital is currently under the model code of conduct ahead of the assembly election on February 8.

Many in Delhi police said the ministry could have arrived at this decision to ensure that there is continuity of leadership at the top during the assembly election. The counting of votes is on February 11.

Patnaik was appointed the city police chief on January 17, 2017. He had replaced Alok Verma, who had been appointed as the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Many officers in Delhi police said this is the first time in the history of the force that a commissioner has been given an extension. When Patnaik was appointed the commissioner in 2017, he had superseded two senior officers, Dharmendra Kumar and Deepak Mishra of the 1984 cadre. Patnaik is a 1985-batch officer of AGMUT cadre.