Centre appoints KV Chowdary CVC, Vijai Sharma CIC

Former chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) KV Chowdary and senior-most information commissioner <g data-gr-id="52">Vijai</g> Sharma were on Monday appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), respectively.

The government has for the first time broken the tradition of appointing an IAS officer as CVC, since its formation in 1964. At present, Chowdary, a 1978 IRS officer, is working as an adviser in the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money. He retired as the chairman of the CBDT in October 2014.

TM Bhasin, chairman and managing director of Indian Bank, has been appointed vigilance commissioner, while Sudhir Bhargava, retired Secretary in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, has been named information commissioner in CIC.

According to sources, Sharma, a former environment secretary, being the senior-most will head the unit for six months as his tenure ends on December 1, 2015, with him turning 65 years old (retirement age). He has been working as information commissioner in the CIC since 2012.

Since August 22, 2014, the CIC has been lying headless, after the retirement of Rajiv Mathur. On May 6, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi had raised questions over delay in the appointment of CIC, CVC and Lokpal.

The appointments were finalised on June 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge participated in the meeting to select the top officials.

On May 20, Supreme Court lawyer and PIL activist Prashant Bhushan had written a letter to the Prime Minister to disclose the names of those shortlisted for the post of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). In the letter, Bhushan stressed that Chowdary was not fit for the post, as his name figures four times on the list of people who had visited former CBI director Ranjit Sinha’s residence.

Not the least, even senior Supreme Court advocate Ram Jethmalani raised objections against the government’s choice to make Chowdary the CVC. With Monday’s appointment, the commission  returns to full strength. The Commission is headed by a CVC and consists of two vigilance commissioners.