Mumbai: FIR Against Ex-Maharashtra DGP Sanjay Pandey For Alleged Extortion And Forgery Sparks Controversy Amid Clean Image Claims

Mumbai: The registration of an FIR against the former director-general of police of Maharashtra, Sanjay Pandey, by the Thane police on Tuesday has sent shock waves in police circles since the retired IPS officer is known for his clean image. Many find it difficult to believe that a person of Pandey's calibre could indulge in "extortion and forgery." In fact, because of his non-corrupt nature he did not find favour with most politicians and was often given "side postings" or relative important departments.

A businessman Ashok Punamiya had registered an FIR for alleged extortion and other IPC offences against Pandey, a former IPS officer of the 1986 batch, and seven others. The alleged offences were reportedly committed between May 2021 and June 30,2024. Normally FIRs are registered after police investigate a complaint and only after they are convinced that a case has been prima facie made out that an FIR is registered.

However, in this case the Thane police appear to have registered the FIR without doing due diligence. When contacted by the FPJ Pandey denied the allegations and observed that the police have lowered the office of the DGP. "I am consulting my lawyers and will take appropriate legal action," he added. Indications are that he will move the Bombay high court to have the FIR quashed.

Sources in the police said groupism was rampant in the Maharashtra IPS lobby. The ruling Maha Yuti feels that Pandey, who was appointed Mumbai's police commissioner by the erstwhile MVA government, wanted to arrest the present deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. The latter had alleged that the MVA regime had instructed Pandey to implicate him in some case or the other. Pandey had earlier denied the allegation.

This is the second time that Pandey is finding himself in the crosshairs of law. In 2022, he was arrested by the CBI and the ED in separate cases in connection with the National Stock Exchange colocation scam. However, the courts did not find him guilty of any of the offences. In fact, the CBI gave him a clean chit after a year-long investigation.

The Bureau had registered a corruption and cheating case against iSec Services Pvt Ltd, a company of Pandey, and officials from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). They were accused of violating the rules while conducting audits of high-risk brokers, SMC Global Securities Ltd and M/s Shaastra Securities Trading Pvt Ltd, between 2012 and 2019.

Pandey had retired on June 30, 2022 and was booked by the CBI and ED in two cases related to allegedly illegal tapping of phones of stock exchange employees and audits of broking firms. He had briefly quit the IPS, but later rejoined the police.

A graduate of IIT, Kanpur, he was very tech savvy and had introduced computer networking in Maharashtra to improve policing. He hit the headlines several years ago when as an young deputy commissioner of police he unearthed the shoe scam involving several bigwigs of Mumbai, including the then sheriff of Mumbai Sadruddin Daya.

As the Mumbai police commissioner he had asked all police station heads to register cases against the managing committees of cooperative housing societies who harrassed senior citizen members.