2012-batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer Devesh Kumar Mahla is currently in the news after Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinay Kumar Saxena issued the order to relieve him from the Delhi Police to enable him to join as Director in the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on deputation for an initial period of one year. Mahla was posted as Additional Police Commissioner in the Delhi Police.
The order, issued on February 23, said the LG has approved the relieving of Mahla from Delhi Police to take up the new assignment under foreign service terms.
The transfer and posting of the All India Services officers is a routine affair and hardly makes news, but the way Mahla successfully scuttled his two back-to-back transfers since May 2025 has caused a flutter in the bureaucratic circles.
Mahla had first been transferred from the Delhi Police to Arunachal Pradesh way back in May 2025, along with 66 IAS and IPS officers of the AGMUT cadre, but he did not join his duties, the reason for which is still not known.
Then, he was transferred to the Social Justice department under the Central government on January 1, 2026, as its Director. But Mahla was again allowed to stay away from joining his new posting and continued to serve the Delhi Police as its Deputy Commissioner.
His transfer to the post of FSSAI Director is his third and the latest transfer in which he was given a choice to either join the Social Justice department or FSSAI as Director. This time he has been relieved from his post, which means he is going to join the FSSAI as its new Director.
What has generated discussion in the bureaucratic corridors is how Mahla managed to evade his transfer, not once but twice, and the government allowing him this unusual privilege of selecting his place of posting by giving him an option to choose.
His latest deputation is in compliance with a communication issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on January 30.
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