Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Transfer of Maria makes people smell a rat' that was published in Newsband

Transfer of Maria makes people smell a rat

The transfer of Rakesh Maria from the post of Mumbai’s Commissioner of Police raises serious questions. It came at a time when the 1981-batch IPS officer was steering the investigation in the Sheena Bora murder case. He was probing into some crucial financial dealings. Just at that time Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis signed his transfer order.

Maria was due for a cadre promotion on September 30 following the retirement of two senior officers. That promotion was advanced by 22 days, while he was effectively shunted out from the murder investigation. This was another case where the political class was seeking to exert control over police officers. This unnecessary immediate transfer is clearly indicating the influence of criminals over the Maharashtra Government. Investigation was at its best but once again the politicians scrapped the dexterous authority and proved that their vested interest came above justice.

The media had sensitised the murder case and the nation took interest in it. At a time when this murder case has been so much highlighted, a step taken by the chief minister of Maharashtra will surely make the people smell a rat. The Government was not unknown about the number of eyes focused on the issue. Without having any ill intention and secret motives no political party will take such a risk. If political motivation is the backbone of this transfer cum promotion, then there could be serious repercussions to this which may unfold in time to come. Maria was approaching towards conclusion and midway he was shifted to other department. This is another step by politicians to create trust deficit between people and governance system. It shows that acts/ rules and laws are not made for public but for whims and fancies of politicians.

The transfer of the person in charge states that government is not in favor of unveiling truth of this case due to the high profile of the victim. This for time and again indicates that justice and punishment is biased and based on money and power the victim has. It's unfortunate that removing the main person in charge of the case will divert the attention and the victim will slip away using her power and money. When will this change?

The instant transfer of Rakesh Maria was influenced by top leaders/ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party. Fadnavis just implemented the orders of his higher ups. But, what prompted such a directive from the top BJP leaders is not clear. In fact, it is a reasonable speculation that Peter Mukherjee and Indrani Mukherjee were contributors to BJP's election fund. It is also suspected that the Mukherjees have a lot of black money stashed in foreign banks. Maria was almost at a crucial stage of investigation in the black money trail of Mukherjees, which would have ultimately led to the hawala link of BJP. Smelling the rat, BJP leaders immediately pressurised Maharashtra CM to transfer Maria under the guise of an advanced promotion and an insignificant posting to divest him of Sheena Bora murder case investigation. Maria is deliberately shunted out and the act of Maharashtra Government is deplorable and such actions will demoralise sincere and honest police officers.