Where’ll Johny ship out now?

TR Baalu ‘reluctant’ to have Joseph as JNPT chairman.

This much is certain: Mumbai is due to have a new municipal commissioner.

The question of where present Commissioner Johny Joseph will go, however, is full of confusion. His announced move as chairman of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) appears to be the issue. Union Shipping Minister TR Baalu is learnt to have voiced his “reluctance” to having Joseph working under him.

This “reluctance” was confirmed by Maharashtra Chief Secretary D Sankaran. Sources said that Baalu conveyed his feelings to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in a conversation.

Though he pleaded ignorance on the issue of Baalu’s objections, Deshmukh said: “It is up to the Union Cabinet Secretary and Joseph to initially finalise his posting with the Centre. A final decision on his new posting will also be taken by them. I think Joseph would be speaking to the cabinet secretary in a day or two.’’

While the reason for Baalu’s reluctance is not known, the move — seven months after Joseph’s name was first mooted in February — has surprised many bureaucrats. “Though politicians are known to play favourites in appointing officers of their choice to key posts, it is very rarely that a minister changes his mind once an appointment is approved,’’ said a senior bureaucrat.

As per civil service rules, postings at the level of secretaries empanelled with the Centre for IAS cadre are done by a sub-committee under the Prime Minister’s office. Joseph was empanelled three months ago. However, following Deshmukh’s request, the central government had allowed Joseph to stay back as BMC chief as the government had wanted continuity in disaster management machinery in the city, especially after the fury of last year’s monsoon in Mumbai. While names of prospective secretaries available for central posting are circulated to various departments, the minister plays a important role in deciding the bureaucrat he wants under him.

In bureaucratic circles, Joseph is known to be a key Deshmukh man. This may have tipped the scales against him with Baalu.

There are also rumours that Mumbai Port Trust chairman Rani Jadhav is the next JNPT chief. Jadhav’s husband A K Jadhav (who known to be close to the NCP chief Sharad Pawar) is currently on central posting with the union finance department.

Attempts to get a reaction from Baalu in Delhi were unsuccessful.

Joseph was scheduled to hand over temporary charge to additional municipal commissioner Manu Kumar Shrivastava on Thursday. Chief Secretary Sankaran said that until the matter is resolved, Joseph “remains the commissioner”.