In a bid to avoid courting controversy, the Central Vigilance Commission on Monday deferred the appointment of a Special Director in the CBI till the formation of the next Government at the Centre.
The BJP had questioned the urgency on the part of the Government to fill senior positions including that of the CBI Special Director. The Opposition party had also opposed the Government’s plans to appoint the lokpal and name the next Army Chief.
The anti-corruption panel had convened a meeting to decide on one name among a panel of eligible officers, including Odisha’s Director General of Police Prakash Mishra, DGP KS Balasubramaniam and Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) chief Rajan Gupta.
“It has been decided to put on hold the process of appointment of special director in CBI for the next Government,” official sources said. However, the names for appointment of one Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and five Superintendents of Police (SPs) were cleared during the meeting, the sources said.
The meeting was chaired by Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar and two Vigilance Commissioners — JM Garg and Rajiv, Home Secretary Anil Goswami, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Secretary
SK Sarkar and CBI Director Ranjit Sinha. According to the rules, the name of one officer shortlisted during the meeting is sent to the Appointments Committee of Cabinet for further orders. The panel apparently dropped the idea also in view of the ongoing Parliamentary elections and Model Code Conduct in force. Among the three officers considered eligible for the post of special sirector, Mishra has a longest tenure till February 2016. Balasubramaniam and Gupta would be retiring by May 2015.
Mishra, who has worked in the CBI as well as National Investigating Agency, is among the front runners for the post which had been lying vacant for the past five months after the retirement of K Saleem Ali on November 30 last year.