IPS Satish Golcha took over as Delhi Police Commissioner, SBK Singh stayed only 21 days

Satish Golcha, a 1988 batch AGMUT cadre officer of the Indian Police Service, took charge as the Commissioner of Delhi Police on Friday (22 August 2025). He replaced SBK Singh, whose tenure on this ‘ Chair ‘  was one of the shortest – just 21 days.

The Union Home Ministry had issued an order on Thursday to appoint Satish Golcha as the Police Commissioner of Delhi. Till then Mr. Golcha was Director General of Prisons, Delhi. If everything goes well and no new order comes in the meantime, Satish Golcha will remain the Police Commissioner of Delhi till April 2027.

It is common talk that SBK Singh was removed due to the incident of attack on Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta during a public hearing in his office in Civil Lines.

 However, SBK Singh was the acting Police Commissioner of Delhi. Many senior IPS officers were ignored while appointing him as the Capital’s Police Chief.  SBK Singh is a 1992 batch IPS officer. Compared to Satish Golcha, SBK is four batches junior to him.

In such a situation, the question also arises that why Satish Golcha was not made the Police Commissioner earlier when he was available in Delhi ?

Who is Satish Golcha : 
Golcha, a 1992 batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, will serve as Delhi Police Commissioner till April 2027. IPS Satish Golcha had earlier played an important role as Special Commissioner (Law and Order) during the 2020 Northeast Delhi riots. However, the Delhi Police was severely criticized during its bad performance in those riots, after which Amulya Patnaik had to lose the post of Police Commissioner.

Mr. Golcha ,during his police career ,  has held many important positions, including the post of Director General (Prisons) of Delhi. Mr. Golcha was posted to that post in May 2024. Earlier, he also served as Director General of Police of Arunachal Pradesh between February 2022 and June 2023. He has also been in the Central Bureau of Investigation i.e. CBI.

First address and priorities:
Soon after taking charge, Mr Golcha held a meeting with senior Delhi Police officials to review the law and order situation in the capital. Instructing the police force to remain alert and proactive, he outlined crime prevention, technology-driven policing, inter-unit coordination and community outreach as his main priorities.

Shortest tenure: 

SBK Singh had the shortest tenure as Delhi Police Commissioner. He took charge as the Acting Commissioner of Delhi Police on August 1, 2025 after the retirement of the then police chief Sanjay Arora. Mr Singh was also serving as the Director General of Home Guards at that time.