Sanjiv Chaturvedi, who was recently unceremoniously removed as the Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of AIIMS, has contested Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan’s statement that he was not qualified for the post. He said that the CVC did not either reject or oppose his appointment as the CVO of AIIMS, as claimed by the Union Minister.
“On the insistence of CVC, the Union Health Ministry had sent a panel of four people by designation on December 24, 2012, which included my name also, after which CVC asked to send specific names.
‘Subsequent to this, the Ministry again sent a panel of three specific officers including my name in March-April, 2013. After that the CVC asked the Ministry to send complete ACR dossier and vigilance clearance of the concerned officers,” Chaturvedi said in his letter to Vardhan.
“In response, the institute had already sent vigilance clearance and other requisite information to the Ministry. Thus, the matter is still pending with the CVC which is yet to take a final decision,” Chaturvedi wrote in his letter.
He said that with a view to influence decision making process of the CVC, repeated communications were being issued to give an impression as if his name has been rejected by the CVC.
The Health Minister had tweeted last week that Chaturvedi had been twice rejected by the CVC and that his continuation as CVO of AIIMS was “irregular and indefensible”. A day later, the Minister said that Chaturvedi's candidature was opposed by the CVC in 2012 and 2013.
Soon after his removal from the post on August 14, Chaturvedi, has been contesting the move claiming that the order bypasses the directions of PMO and Civil Services Board's repeated commitments to the parliamentary committee statuary approvals under the AIIMS Act, 1956.
His current tenure was due to last till June 2016. However, following his transfer order dated August 14, the Joint Secretary and CVO of the health ministry has been posted in place of Chaturvedi for three months.