In the light of the Supreme Court verdict setting aside the appointment of P.J. Thomas as CVC, the government is finalising fresh set of guidelines for the appointments of the CVC and vigilance commissioners. The guidelines suggest that the appointment for the head of the country’s top anti-corruption watchdog will not be restricted to civil servants.
It has said that ministries/ departments/ NGOs will be able to suggest names under “public category’’ but, in doing so , they will have to give details of adequate experience in respective areas. Even if civil servants are appointed, such persons need to be “outstanding’’ and persons of ‘’impeccable’’ integrity, it says. A high level meeting was held on Thursday and attended by senior government functionaries of ministries of law, home and department of personnel and training to finalise the guidelines.
The proposed guidelines suggest fixing of age for appointments of CVC and vigilance commissioners upto 61 years. In a significant suggestion, the guidelines propose that the high-level committee consisting of the Prime Minister, home minister and Leader of Opposition will need to record reasons in case of ‘’dissent ‘’ by any member during the final selection process. “If the other members decide to overrule the dissent, they should also give reasons for doing so,” the guidelines suggest. It may be recalled that Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj had noted her dissent by merely writing “I dissent’’ which had been overruled. The fresh guidelines also encourage ministries to suggest names of persons who are “eminent’’ in public life.
It has also suggested that during the short-listing of names for the vigilance commissioners, a committee comprising of the secretary, DoPT, law secretary, and others should vet the names before a final view is taken on the appointments, the sources said.
However, the government is yet to take a final view on whether any amendments are required in the CVC Act to streamline the process of appointments of the CVC in future, a government official said.