RAW’s present crisis is the legacy of two men, Chaturvedi and his deputy Sanjiv Tripathi, who served as as the additional secretary (personnel) and then as the head of its technical wing known as the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). Tripathi is back in contention as the new RAW chief if the current chief, K.C. Verma, chooses to retire a month before the actual date of his retirement. During Chaturvedi and Tripathi’s run in RAW, the organisation was hit by several controversies, resignations and security lapses, causing embarrassment to the government.
It was also during this period (2007-09) that some of RAW’s finest officers quit. While Sen retired from service, Chaturvedi’s attempts to promote Tripathi led to R. Banerji, an expert on Pakistan, Afghanistan and terrorism, leaving. Chaturvedi also ensured that its China expert, P.V. Kumar, would be sidelined. Two other senior officers, Jayadeva Ranade and Ravi Nair, put in their papers under controversial circumstances. RAW was without experts in the two countries that matter the most, Pakistan and China. The exodus at the top ensured that officers from other departments began to cry off any offers of deputation in the intelligence agency. Now, ad-hoc extensions to non-essential personnel like Mathur are ensuring that the last vestige of professionalism is corroded away.