Sanjay Kothari new CVC,

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Sanjay Kothari new CVC,

Bimal Julka new CIC

 

Rajiv Kumar missed the bus, Adhirranjan Chowdhury batted on front foot in the meeting

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Feb 18

Finally, the anti-graft agency, Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) was appointed today.

 

Sanjay Kothari, who is secretary to the President, Ram Nath Kovind was chosen as the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner by the high-powered committee headed  by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Ever since K V Chowdhry superannuated eight months ago, IPS officer and VC  Sharad Kumar was given the charge of the CVC. In fact, the CVC doesn't have a VC either after T M Bhasin retired in the 3-member watchdog body.

Rajiv Kumar who is a 1984-batch officer of the IAS and currently Finance Secretary superannuating this month, was the front runner. He belongs to the Jharkhand cadre of the IAS and rated high. He succeeded 1983 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Subhash Chandra Garg who resigned prematurely. The name of Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba is also among the names doing the rounds. The third name for the post is mentioned of C Chandramouli who is currently Secretary in the department of personnel & training (DoPT) under the Prime Minister. But they all missed the bus when Adhiranjan Chowdhury raised the oibjection saying that how could Rajiv Kumar who is a member of the search committee himself could be chosen for the post.

 

The shortlist was prepared a few months ago of applicants and a pruned names of three was placed before the committee which comprises of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of the single largest party in the Opposition Adhirranjan Chowdhury. The Prime Minister heads the selection committee for choosing the chiefs of both the CVC and VC. The CVC shall hold office for a period of four years from the date he or she takes over or until attains the age of 65 years whichever is earlier. According to the notification issued by the ministry, the interested persons for the CVC & VC posts were told to write 300 word essay to indicate their suitability.

The high-powdered committee also picked Bimal Julka, sitting Information Commissioner as Chief Information Commissioner.

The post was also lying vacant since more than a month now. Besides Modi, Amit Shah and Adhirranjan Chowdhury are also members of this high-powered committee to select CIC and ICs. Sudhir Bhargava, CIC, had superannuated on January 11, 2020. Four posts of information commissioners too are currently vacant. Out of the sanctioned strength of 11, the CIC is functioning only with six information commissioners.

Ends