Panel of three senior-most officers moved for selection of DGP

The process for the appointment of the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Himachal was initiated today as the Home Department prepared a panel of three IPS officers (Shyam Bhagat Negi, Ashok Tiwari and Rakesh Aggarwal).

Incumbent DGP Atul Verma, a 1991 batch IPS officer, is due to retire on May 31. He was appointed DGP on May 1, 2024. Incidentally, Verma had sought extension in service, citing a Supreme Court judgment that a DGP should have at least a two-year term. The second senior-most officer after him is DGP Sanjeev Ranjan Ojha, a 1989 batch IPS officer, who will also superannuate on May 31.

However, under the present circumstances when police officers, especially DGP Verma and SSP, Shimla, Sanjeev Gandhi, are squabbling openly in the public, the possibility of Verma getting extension is ruled out.

The panel of three IPS officers prepared by the Home Department comprises the names of Shyam Bhagat Negi, a 1990 batch officer, who is at present on Central deputation. He is serving as Additional Secretary in the Union Cabinet Secretariat and has given his consent to return to Himachal if he is made DGP. He will retire on March 31, 2026, so he has 10 months’ service left.

On the other hand, Tiwari, who is serving as DGP (CID), will retire on November 30, 2026, and has over a year in service left. In the past, he had held important posts under the Congress regime, including of the Managing Director of the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC).

There are three IPS officers, namely Anurag Garg, Ritwik Rudra and Ashok Tiwari, of the 1993 batch. At present, only Tiwari is serving in the state and the other two are on Central deputation. “The race is primarily between Negi and Tiwari as Ojha will retire on May 31. Moreover, Rudra and Garg are not keen to return to Himachal,” said a senior police officer.

Besides Negi and Tiwari, the name of Rakesh Aggarwal, a 1994 batch IPS officer, at present on Central deputation, figures on the panel sent to the state government for the selection of the next DGP. He, too, is learnt to have given his consent to return to his parent cadre if he is given the top police post.

Verma had sought service extension

• The state Home Department has prepared a panel of three senior-most IPS officers comprising Shyam Bhagat Negi, Ashok Tiwari and Rakesh Aggarwal
• Incumbent DGP Atul Verma, who is due to retire on May 31, has sought extension in service, citing a Supreme Court judgment that a DGP should have at least a two-year term

Himachal Tribune