As the government is in the process of selecting a new Comptroller and Auditor-General to replace Vinod Rai, who is demitting office in May, a demand has been made to the President and the Prime Minister to ensure transparency and a proper procedure through a suitably constituted selection committee.
The Forum of Retired Officers of Indian Audit and Accounts Service, in a letter to both of them, said the selection committee might consist of the Prime Minister, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, the Union Finance Minister and the Chief Justice of India.
The Forum wanted the best possible candidate with high professional competence and unimpeachable integrity chosen. It suggested that the selected person could have IAAS background and if no suitable officer was available, an officer from the IAS or other source could be considered and the decision must be unanimous and not by majority. The rationale of the selection should be recorded in writing, it demanded.
CPI MP and member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee probing the 2G scam Gurudas Dasgupta had recently claimed that the UPA government was contemplating appointment of a senior official from the Department of Telecommunications as the next CAG, unmindful of a conflict of interest as investigations were still on into the 2G scam.
