Former Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey to join Congress and contest assembly polls | Mumbai news

Mumbai: Retired IPS officer and former Mumbai police chief Sanjay Pandey is set to enter politics by joining the Congress party. He is expected to contest the upcoming state assembly elections from Mumbai, with the party considering fielding him from a constituency with a significant north Indian population.

Sachin Sawant, general secretary of the state Congress, confirmed the development, stating, “He is an honest and upright officer who has set an example for the force. He is joining the party in the presence of Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and Mumbai Congress president Varsha Gaikwad today.”

Pandey has long harboured political ambitions. Previously, he announced plans to contest from the Versova assembly seat in Mumbai and had formed his own political outfit, the Rashtriya Janhit Party. He had also contemplated running in the recent Lok Sabha elections, considering the Mumbai North Central and Mumbai North West constituencies, but later changed his plans.

An alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and a 1986 batch IPS officer, Pandey was appointed Mumbai Police Commissioner on 18 February 2022. Despite being regarded as an upright officer, his career has not been without controversy.

During his tenure as Mumbai police commissioner, Pandey faced scrutiny. In June 2022, he was arrested by central agencies in connection with the National Stock Exchange (NSE) phone-tapping case. He currently faces two FIRs filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). One pertains to the illegal interception of NSE employees’ phones by iSec Services Private Ltd, a company he founded, while the other concerns violations of Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) guidelines in conducting NSE’s system audit.

Following his arrest, Pandey spent nearly five months in custody. On 8 December 2022, the Delhi High Court granted him bail in the ED’s money-laundering case. In its bail order, the court noted that although the CBI had charged Pandey with cheating, criminal breach of trust, and bribery, none of these offences’ elements were found in the case. The bribery charges were deemed inapplicable as there were no allegations of anyone demanding or accepting a bribe.