B.S. Bassi appointed UPSC member

Former Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi, who had a controversial tenure and frequent run-ins with the AAP government, was on Tuesday appointed a member of UPSC — a Constitutional post, with a five-year tenure.

The Centre cleared Mr. Bassi’s (60) name as member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which conducts the civil services examination to select IAS and IPS officers among others.

A 1977-batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories cadre, Mr. Bassi retired as the Delhi Police chief in February this year.

He will have a tenure of about five years till February 2021. Under the Constitution, a UPSC member can have a maximum of six years tenure or till he attains the age of 65.

Rocky tenure

Mr. Bassi’s tenure as Delhi top cop, especially towards the end, had come in for criticism after the arrest of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar over the sedition row.

The former police chief was involved in a running battle with the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal.

Five legislators of the AAP were arrested under different counts during Mr. Bassi’s tenure. — PTI