The curious case of Rakesh Maria: How the Maharashtra govt shot itself in the foot

In the middle of the Indrani Mukerjea mystery we now have the Rakesh Maria mystery. Why was Rakesh Maria booted upstairs? Why was he promoted right now? Why could it not wait till 30 September as it was scheduled? Why did the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis rush through the transfer even as he was leaving for Japan? Did Rakesh Maria say “I’m thinking of resigning” after his promotion or did he says “I’m not thinking of resigning”? Was Maria too close to Peter Mukerjea and trying to shield him from the fallout though he claimed he had never met Peter until he interrogated him? Or was a powerful politician close to Peter behind the transfer? As is usual with conspiracy theories, for every theory there is its exact opposite floating around as well. We will never know the definitive answers to all these questions because the government will insist it was routine and business as usual. Maria’s loyalists will have their spin, Fadnavis’ camp will have its spin. What both will try to do is manage the battle of perceptions. That’s where the murky case gets murkier. [caption id=“attachment_2427268” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rakesh Maria. Reuters[/caption] The Sheena Bora case is a sensational case with enough Page 3 interest to warrant wall-to-wall coverage. But stripped of that glamour, it is one more murder case. The Police Commissioner’s personal interest in the case has raised eyebrows. As Firstpost has noted, he personally interrogated the accused and briefed the media regularly as if it was the most important investigation in the country. The police commissioner seemed happy to act as an inspector. The media, of course, lapped it up eagerly without questioning Maria’s extraordinary interest in the investigation. Why would they bite the hand that feeds them? As a point of comparison, a sensational and convoluted murder case involving a techie is unfolding in Bangalore right now. There’s a lot of public interest in that case as well, but it has not become a VIP case with a supercop presiding over its every twist and turn. Devendra Fadnavis had already indicated his irritation with Maria’s zeal. He had said he hoped the police would give such priority to other criminal cases. And Maria by refusing to take the hint has played into the government’s hands. But the government understands that there is a PR risk to its move. Perhaps that is why Home Secretary K P Bakshi tried to both have his cake and eat it too. While getting Maria out of the way, Bakshi announced that he would still supervise the investigation. The media effectively allowed the Home Secretary to pull wool over their eyes by not asking exactly how that would work. YP Singh, a former IPS officer, tells ABP Ananda that this is an “illegal proposition". “How can Mumbai police investigators report to both the police commissioner and DG homeguards?” he wonders. What the government should have done is explain clearly how the Maria transfer would not affect the case since the accused are in judicial custody and crucial evidence is already on the record and a full investigating team is on board. Maria’s interest in the case might have been beyond the call of duty but in its haste to remove him the government will also have to fight the perception that it has an ulterior motive. While Maria’s removal was bold, the Home Secretary’s announcement creates the perception that it is taking two steps forward and one step back. The one thing we can be sure of is the Ganpati festival season timing had nothing to do with Maria’s removal.