Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik — or should we say former Commissioner? — has become the latest in a line of officers shunted out of work on account of political pressure. We had an inkling of this a while ago, when Maharashtra home minister RR Patil referred to the decision being in the hands of the Chief Minister alone. What he also referred to, albeit obliquely, was the decision also being in the hands of the leader of the coalition party keeping the Congress in power.

Patnaik has been promoted as Director General, Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC), but we all know this is more of a demotion than anything else. We know this because it isn’t the first time.