After months of delays caused by litigation and repeated postponements, Tamil Nadu has finally got a regular Director General of Police and Head of Police Force (DGP/HoPF).

On Wednesday (June 3, 2026), Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal, a 1994-batch IPS officer, assumed charge as the DGP/HoPF of the Tamil Nadu police, nearly 10 months after the vacancy arose.

Dr. Aggarwal was given a guard of honour at the DGP office in Chennai. Later, he met Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay at the Secretariat.

He was on Central government deputation and was serving as Special Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF). He had served in several important positions, including that of Chennai City Police Commissioner. 

After assuming charge as the DGP, Dr. Aggarwal told the media that prime importance would be given to curb the drug menace, prevent crimes against women and children, and maintain law and order. 

Dr. Aggarwal succeeds Sandeep Rai Rathore, who was appointed to the post by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the run-up to the Assembly election held in April 2026.

With about six years of service left, Dr. Aggarwal is the youngest police officer to occupy the top post and will have a minimum tenure of two years under the Supreme Court’s guidelines in the Prakash Singh case. There is, however, no bar on his continuing in the post until superannuation.

Disagreement over choice of officers

The appointment brings to a close a protracted process marked by administrative delays, legal challenges, and disagreements between the State government and the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The post should have ideally been filled on September 1, 2025, following the retirement of the then DGP/HoPF, Shankar Jiwal. However, the process was delayed for multiple reasons.

Going by the Supreme Court guidelines, the State government is required to initiate the selection process well in advance and forward a list of eligible DGP-rank officers to the UPSC at least six months before the vacancy arises. In this case, the proposal was reportedly sent only a few days before Mr. Jiwal’s retirement in the last week of August 2025.

State posted in-charge DGP

As the proposal remained pending with the UPSC, the State government appointed G. Venkatraman, a 1994-batch IPS officer, as the DGP in-charge.

Subsequently, when the UPSC convened an Empanelment Committee Meeting (ECM) to finalise a panel of three officers for appointment as the regular DGP/HoPF, the then Chief Secretary, representing the State, objected to the inclusion of certain officers though they had already been cleared by the government and included in the proposal sent to the commission.

The UPSC, however, proceeded with the meeting, finalised the panel, and communicated the names of three DGP-rank officers to the State government.

The State did not select any of the officers empanelled by the UPSC. Then Law Minister S. Regupathy publicly accused the Centre of interfering with the selection process and alleged that the UPSC had ignored the views of the Chief Secretary. He also stated that the three officers recommended by the commission were not acceptable to the State government.

Tamil Nadu subsequently wrote to the UPSC, expressing its objections to the panel and seeking reconsideration. The commission, however, maintained its position and declined to alter the panel.

Inquiries launched and closed

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) initiated detailed inquiries against two DGP-rank officers. In one case, the integrity certificate of an officer was withdrawn, disqualifying him from consideration for the top post. The inquiries were later closed.

As the in-charge arrangement continued, activists approached the Supreme Court with a contempt petition, citing the court’s ruling in the Prakash Singh case that “none of the States shall ever conceive of the idea of appointing any person on the post of DGP on acting basis, for there is no concept of acting DGP.”

On February 12, 2026, the Supreme Court directed that a regular DGP be appointed, granting one week to the State government and two weeks to the UPSC to complete the process. However, the matter was delayed further after the Empanelment Committee Meeting was postponed twice.

Eventually, at the ECM held on March 26, 2026, the UPSC finalised a panel comprising Rajeev Kumar, Sandeep Rai Rathore, and Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal. From among the three officers, the Tamil Nadu government chose Dr. Aggarwal to lead the State police force.