Gujarat is all set to get a new DGP with the Supreme Court directing the state government to remove P. P. Pandey from the post. Pandey, an 1980 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, is an accused in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case and is out on bail.
The ruling is in the wake of a PIL filed by former IPS officer and Padma Bhushan awardee Julio Riberio who challenged Pandey's appointment on the grounds that he was an accused in the encounter.
The apex court asked the Gujarat government to announce name of the new DGP in two days.
Pandey had taken over as the DGP of Gujarat in April 2016. After his term ended in February, he was given an extension which was to end by April 30.
Anticipating such a move by the court, Pandey had written a letter to the Gujarat government, requesting it to relieve him from the post. The letter was presented before the court by government's lawyers.
Soon after the Supreme Court ordered the removal of Pandey, consultations began between Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja to find a successor to Pandey.
The name of Geetha Johri, an 1982-batch IPS officer, is among the top contenders for the post. Johri is considered to be a bold officer who took on the mafia headed by Abdul Latif. The recent Bollywood blockbuster Raees was loosely based on Latif.
Ishrat and three others were killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in 2004. Pandey was heading the Crime Branch (Ahmedabad) then. Former IPS officer D. Vanjhara, another accused in the fake encounter case, was also part of the Crime Branch when the incident happened.
