by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Its a double whammy in CBI,
CVC fails to pick Director of Prosecution
Fresh applications invites
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Jan. 14
After the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) failed to select a new Director of Prosecution (DoP) and sent back the panel of four to the government, the Centre has sought fresh nominations from different ministries.
Highly placed sources say that as O P Verma, DoP in the CBI was to retire on December 24, the CVC had sought names for the impalement and accordingly four names were short-listed for the post. The names were sent to the CVC long before the crisis between Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana surfaced in October last year.
But serious differences arose within the government and the CVC over the new DoP and in the meanwhile, one of the four aspirants retired forcing the CVC to call for fresh names. Accordingly, the Centre has now issued a notification asking for names from ministries to send names expeditiously to fill vacant post of the Director of Prosecution in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Director of Prosecution is a crucial post in the federal probe agency. The incumbent, who works under the supervision and control of the CBI Director, renders legal opinion in all the cases probed by the agency, the officials said. The Personnel Ministry has written to secretaries of all government departments for names of eligible and willing officers, not below the rank of Joint Secretary and eligible for appointment as Special Public Prosecutor, they said.
The Department of Personnel has issued a notification today seeking names by January 25 so that "an expeditious decision can be taken for filling the post of Director of Prosecution in CBI".
It is for the first time that the CBI is working without its regular chief and the Director of Prosecution, the officials said.
Ends
