BJP gets fresh ammo against new CBI chief
26 Nov 2012 6:42 AM IST
The BJP has decided to not let the Manmohan Singh government breathe easy on the appointment of the new CBI director Ranjit Sinha. Though the government has maintained that the selection of the 1974-batch IPS officer has been done in a ‘fair manner’ following ‘due process’ and that the Prime Minister has the authority to decide on one name, the BJP is in no mood to relent.
Sources close to the Opposition party have told Millennium Post the BJP has got fresh ammunition to attack the government with on this issue. The recent empanelment for the appointment of the next CBI director by a committee headed by the CVC, in which three IPS officers — Ranjit Sinha, IPS (Bihar: 1974 batch); SC Sinha, IPS (Haryana: 1975 batch) and Atul, IPS (UP: 1976 batch) have been recommended, is said to be solely based on seniority, ignoring the hitherto adopted, more broad-based criteria of seniority-cum-merit-cum-suitability. However, sources said if we look at past instances, seniority has often not been a criteria for appointment.
Despite being the juniormost among officers shortlisted, Ashwini Kumar, IPS (HP: 1973 batch) was not only empaneled, but appointed as CBI Director in July 2008, whereas the two senior most officers among the shortlisted ones, J K Dutt, IPS (WB:1971 batch) and M L Kumawat, IPS (AP: 1972 batch) were not even empaneled by the committee headed by the CVC. Both had long stints in the CBI and had worked as Joint Director/Additional Director. As they were subsequently appointed as DG, National Security Guard and DG, Border Security Force respectively, it is apparent there was nothing against their integrity. By following seniority as the main criterion, as is being projected to justify current empanelment, Ashwini Kumar could not have been made the CBI director at that time.
Millennium Post has also learnt that Ranjit Sinha’s name had come up earlier for the top job in the CBI, but he did not make the cut. This, despite being number two among the officers shortlisted for appointment as CBI director in November 2010 and being senior to his batch mate AP Singh, who was eventually appointed. In fact, he was not even empaneled by the committee headed by the CVC. As he was occupying the post of DG, Railway Protection Force, it is evident he was not empaneled on account of unsuitability for the post and not on account of lack of seniority either. It is strange then that the same committee, headed by the CVC and with two members common who were there in the last panel, has now found Sinha suitable and empaneled him, although he has not worked in any vigilance or anti-corruption body during the past two years that could have added to his credentials.
Furthermore, Sinha had made news in 1996 in relation to the fodder scam. Sinha, who was at the time the DIG, CBI, in Patna, had reportedly refused to investigate the fodder scam citing personal reasons.
But Sinha had in fact drawn flak from the monitoring bench which the Supreme Court had appointed to oversee the investigation. On the recommendation of Patna High Court judges SN Jha and SJ Mukhopadhya (who were part of the monitoring bench), Sinha was shifted out of the CBI investigation team. Former CBI joint director Upen Biswas had also accused Sinha of being part of the coterie that benefitted from the scam. Later, when Sinha took over the animal husbandry probe, he allegedly tried to exonerate former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, one of the fodder scam accused, but was reportedly overruled.
Sinha is a senior IPS officer and the DG of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The government had on 22 November announced his name as the next CBI director, and he’ll take over from AP Singh, an IPS of 1974 Jharkhand cadre, who is retiring on 30 November.
Sources close to the Opposition party have told Millennium Post the BJP has got fresh ammunition to attack the government with on this issue. The recent empanelment for the appointment of the next CBI director by a committee headed by the CVC, in which three IPS officers — Ranjit Sinha, IPS (Bihar: 1974 batch); SC Sinha, IPS (Haryana: 1975 batch) and Atul, IPS (UP: 1976 batch) have been recommended, is said to be solely based on seniority, ignoring the hitherto adopted, more broad-based criteria of seniority-cum-merit-cum-suitability. However, sources said if we look at past instances, seniority has often not been a criteria for appointment.
Despite being the juniormost among officers shortlisted, Ashwini Kumar, IPS (HP: 1973 batch) was not only empaneled, but appointed as CBI Director in July 2008, whereas the two senior most officers among the shortlisted ones, J K Dutt, IPS (WB:1971 batch) and M L Kumawat, IPS (AP: 1972 batch) were not even empaneled by the committee headed by the CVC. Both had long stints in the CBI and had worked as Joint Director/Additional Director. As they were subsequently appointed as DG, National Security Guard and DG, Border Security Force respectively, it is apparent there was nothing against their integrity. By following seniority as the main criterion, as is being projected to justify current empanelment, Ashwini Kumar could not have been made the CBI director at that time.
Millennium Post has also learnt that Ranjit Sinha’s name had come up earlier for the top job in the CBI, but he did not make the cut. This, despite being number two among the officers shortlisted for appointment as CBI director in November 2010 and being senior to his batch mate AP Singh, who was eventually appointed. In fact, he was not even empaneled by the committee headed by the CVC. As he was occupying the post of DG, Railway Protection Force, it is evident he was not empaneled on account of unsuitability for the post and not on account of lack of seniority either. It is strange then that the same committee, headed by the CVC and with two members common who were there in the last panel, has now found Sinha suitable and empaneled him, although he has not worked in any vigilance or anti-corruption body during the past two years that could have added to his credentials.
Furthermore, Sinha had made news in 1996 in relation to the fodder scam. Sinha, who was at the time the DIG, CBI, in Patna, had reportedly refused to investigate the fodder scam citing personal reasons.
But Sinha had in fact drawn flak from the monitoring bench which the Supreme Court had appointed to oversee the investigation. On the recommendation of Patna High Court judges SN Jha and SJ Mukhopadhya (who were part of the monitoring bench), Sinha was shifted out of the CBI investigation team. Former CBI joint director Upen Biswas had also accused Sinha of being part of the coterie that benefitted from the scam. Later, when Sinha took over the animal husbandry probe, he allegedly tried to exonerate former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, one of the fodder scam accused, but was reportedly overruled.
Sinha is a senior IPS officer and the DG of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The government had on 22 November announced his name as the next CBI director, and he’ll take over from AP Singh, an IPS of 1974 Jharkhand cadre, who is retiring on 30 November.
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