A keen sportsman, he topped the civil service exam in 1972, and joined the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
Mr. Tripathi is the first Secretary (R) to be from the RAS (RAW Allied Services) cadre in its more than four-decade history.
[1] Tripathi played a significant role in tracking down Sikh separatists operating abroad and get them to India to participate in talks with the Indian government.
[citation needed] Tripathi has been asked by the NSA, Shiv Shankar Menon, to prepare a comprehensive report on personnel policies by 15 January to ensure that the age-old turf wars between RAS and non-RAS cadre officers is laid to rest forever.
Ten years ago, a Group of Ministers, aided by a special task force on intelligence, had gone about trying to reform India’s intelligence community, which seems mired in controversies and lacking in infrastructure, resources and parliamentary oversight.