The Supreme Court will have the final word on the appointment of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The apex court on Wednesday told the Centre to produce the names shortlisted for the post in a sealed envelope before January 14, the next date of hearing on a PIl which challenged lack of transparency in appointment of the CVC.
Giving its nod to Centre to proceed with the selection process, the Bench headed by Chief Justice Hl Dattu said, "We permit them (Centre) to proceed further with the appointment. However, before any appointment is made they will take the leave of the Court."The post of CVC and one of the Vigilance Commissioners is lying vacant since September this year. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi informed the Court that the Centre had shortlisted candidates for the posts but could not proceed with the appointment due to an embargo placed by Court which is dealing with a PIl filed by NGO Centre for Integrity, Governance and Training in Vigilance Administration.
Rohatgi submitted that once the shortlisted names would be cleared by the Screening Committee headed by the Prime Minister, he will present the results in a sealed cover in Court. But even before Rohatgi could justify the procedure adopted by the Government, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani who appeared for the petitioner warned that the Centre was making a "horrible" mistake of adopting the same course of selection which was ridden with defects.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan who supported Jethmalani argued that the top vigilance post should attract talent from across the country and applications should not be scrutinised at the level of lower rank officials of DoPT.The Bench felt that it was not possible to scrutinise every step of appointment but felt that the final declaration should be subject to scrutiny of Court on whether the procedure adopted by the Government was transparent.