New Delhi, Feb. 17: One man remained as the centre of attention through an eventful day: Delhi police commissioner Bhim Sain Bassi.

He did not come out with flying colours but indications are he will be rewarded for what could effectively be his swan song in a service he joined 39 years ago.

As it is, today was a big day for the police chief with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to drop in at his official residence for the customary reception hosted annually by the Delhi police chief to mark the raising day of the force.

For Bassi, who has had several run-ins with Arvind Kejriwal in his first and ongoing stint as Delhi chief minister, the day began with a visit to the Prime Minister's Office even as police teams were on their way to Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Maharashtra and Bihar on the trail of students alleged to have raised seditious slogans in JNU on February 9.

Soon after, news broke that the government was going to make Bassi information commissioner at the Central Information Commission after he retires from office this month-end.

The news, yet to be confirmed officially, triggered a slew of allegations from the political class and on the social media that a handsome reward was being kept ready for allowing lawyers to go on a rampage inside the Patiala House Courts complex on Monday.

There seemed to be no effort to camouflage what looked like a quid pro quo to many, especially at a time images of an encore of the violence in the Patiala House complex were playing themselves out on television screens.

Tweeting in his personal capacity, Kejriwal's media adviser Nagendar Sharma said: "Today is an ideal day for Modi government to announce post-retirement award for BS Bassi - BJP goons beat up journos & accused in police custody."

In the middle of all this, including the Supreme Court's second sitting in which the police chief was held directly accountable for the security of Kanhaiya, Bassi played the host at home. The President and Vice-President Hamid Ansari put in a presence but Modi opted out.

For the Aam Aadmi Party, which has been crying foul over the way the Centre has been using Delhi police to make life uncomfortable for the Kejriwal government, what has been unfolding over the past few days has come as vindication.

Kejriwal tweeted: "Del Pol openly flouting SC orders. Bassi acting so brazenly. What is source of his confidence? What instructions does he hv from his bosses?"

Appointed commissioner by the UPA government in August 2013, Bassi survived the change of guard at the Centre without hiccups. Last August, in an interview to The Hindu newspaper, he had said: "I'm an admirer of PM's vision."

Among those who cracked the civil services in their very first attempt at the age of 21, the 1977 IPS officer has served in Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Chandigarh, besides Delhi police, in various capacities.

The post Bassi is scheduled to leave soon - Tihar prison director-general Alok Kumar Verma will be the new police chief - has never been a bed of roses. Every incumbent has had to negotiate the political capital of the country with its city-state dynamics and multiple civic authorities.

But the stint is bound to shadow Bassi should he move to the CIC where Right to Information activists are already facing hurdles.