The government will soon name the top police officers in the newly carved Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The crucial namefor the job of maintaining law and order in the valley post abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution will be decided at the meeting of the Joint Cadre Authority (JCA) slated to be held immediately after the winter session of Parliament or even amid the ongoing session.

For the first time, representatives of the two new UTs will also attend the meeting to discuss the new police chief of the provinces,besides Goa.The Union Home Secretary will chair the meeting and the Principal Secretary or another secretary will take part in this sensitive meeting. This time around the meeting will also be attended by Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik.

Usually, this meeting is held soon after the Parliamentsession.However, given the current situation of an Assembly election set to be declared anytime in the national capital -- the process could be affected ifthe model code of conduct is invoked.Also ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections, the Centre has to decide whether incumbent Commissioner Patnaik, whoretires in January, will get an extension or not.This apart, following thesudden demise of Goa Director General of Police Pranab Nanda, that post alsolies vacant, and needs to be filled.Rajesh Malik, Special Commissioner (GeneralAdministration) of Delhi Police is retiring at the end of this month (November2019). The final seal of the name of Rajesh Malik''s successor can also be putin the meeting.While the Tis Hazari court was vacated on November 2 on theorders of the Delhi High Court after the clash between police and lawyers, theSpecial Police Commissioner''s (Law and Order) chair in the northern zone hasalso not yet been filled.

Until recently there is no permanent arrangement, ascurrently Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Golcha is heading thechair temporarily.Similarly, the promotion of Rajesh Khurana, JointCommissioner of North Zone in Delhi is also scheduled in the near future. Fromthe point of view of station seniority, Rajesh Khurana, Neeraj Thakur (JointCommissioner Special Cell) and Anand Mohan (Joint Commissioner New Delhi Range)are up. So along with promotion, his transfer out of Delhi is also fixed.