Deven Bharti appointed as special commissioner of Mumbai police; Oppn says Fadnavis trying to create parallel administration

Senior Indian Police Service officer Deven Bharti was on Wednesday appointed as `special commissioner of Mumbai police', officials said. But the creation of this new post and Bharti's appointment came in for criticism from opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which accused deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis of trying to create a "parallel administration."

IPS officer Vivek Phansalkar is currently the Mumbai police commissioner. Bharti, an IPS officer of 1994 batch, is considered to be close to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He was Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) when the BJP leader was the chief minister of the state from 2014 to 2019. Subsequently, he was shifted to the Anti-Terrorism Squad on promotion as additional Director General of Police.

Bharti was shunted out when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress came to power in 2019. He was made joint managing director of the Maharashtra State Security Corporation, considered to be a relatively insignificant posting. On December 13, 2022, Bharti was replaced by joint commissioner (traffic) Rajvardhan, and since then he had been awaiting new posting along with former ATS chief Vinit Agarwal, former Thane police commissioner Bipin Kumar Singh and former Anti-Corruption Bureau chief Prabhat Kumar, an official said.


State Congress's chief spokesman Atul Londhe said commissioner is the senior-most post in Mumbai Police and Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, was trying to create a parallel administration of his own by creating a new post.

“It is wrong to disturb the disciplined Mumbai police force to further your own political ambitions,” said Londhe. The new post will divide the police force, he added.

NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase questioned the rationale behind the decision and wondered if the government will create new posts of “special governor, special chief secretary and special municipal commissioner for Mumbai”.