Through the year, controversies clouded several senior appointments across the spectrum as the Narendra Modi government lurched from one controversy to another in its dealings with major institutions such as the judiciary and the military.
Many senior level appointments, especially that of the Army Chief and the interim chief of the CBI, stood out like a sore thumb. As the year winds up, the stand-off between the Supreme Court and the government is nowhere close to being resolved. What began as a turf war between the judiciary and the executive over the quashing of the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act is now a full-blown deadlock over judicial appointments.
The government’s actions regarding these appointments raise troubling questions about its tendency to overlook norms and conventions, and the justifications it had offered have not been credible enough.
The most controversial of the lot was the appointment of the Army Chief. Vice-Chief of the Army Staff Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat was announced as General Dalbir Singh’s successor, superseding Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi and Lt. Gen. P.M. Hariz, who are senior to him. This was the first time since 1983 that the government had taken such a decision. The government’s explanation that Lt. Gen. Rawat was selected on the basis of merit did not cut much ice with most military observers. Speculation continues to mount over how the two senior Army commanders will respond, with sources close to Lt. Gen. Bakshi saying he will put in his papers.
For the first time in more than a decade, the CBI does not have a full-time chief. Gujarat-cadre IPS officer and CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana has been given additional charge as the agency’s interim head in the beginning of December after Anil Kumar Sinha retired without the government appointing his successor.
And within no time, the CBI ran into a controversy as its arrest of the former Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi came under fire in the court.
The Centre’s move to appoint Mr. Asthana, who is known to enjoy the confidence of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, is now under the Supreme Court’s scanner.
Clever move
The Centre paved the way for Mr. Asthana by transferring Special Director R.K. Dutta, the seniormost official in the agency after Mr. Sinha, two days before the CBI chief retired. Mr. Dutta had overseen the investigation into major cases such as 2G and coal block allocation scams. The government did not even call a meeting of the committee, comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, that is supposed to appoint the CBI chief.
As the year winds up, there is intense speculation about the next Foreign Secretary. The tenure of S. Jaishankar ends in January, and there is conjecture that he may get an extension.
