The Supreme Court on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for the appointment of Chief Vigilance Commissioner and a Vigilance Commissioner and asked the government to ensure transparency by providing the high-power selection committee headed by the Prime Minister with names and details of all 130 applicants and not just of those shortlisted by a scrutiny panel of three senior bureaucrats.
With this order, the apex court ends a several months-long hiatus in the appointment process to the country’s top anti-corruption watchdog.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu passed the order “keeping in view the urgency and importance of the appointments.”
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said the names of the applicants had already been shortlisted by a scrutiny panel of three government secretaries led by the Cabinet Secretary and would be placed before the high-power panel comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and the Union Home Minister.
However, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for PIL petitioner-NGO ‘Centre for Integrity, Governance and Training in Vigilance Administration’, objected to this.
Mr. Bhushan contended that the records of all 130 applicants to the posts, and not just those shortlisted by the scrutiny panel of three secretaries, should be placed for the perusal of the PM’s committee.
He referred to a letter written by the Leader of the Opposition questioning the decision allowing secretaries to shortlist names for the post of CVC and VC.
Agreeing with him, the Bench asked the Centre to place the entire list of applicants before the PM’s committee.
Mr. Rohatgi, however, clarified that this was already the practice. He said that both the shortlisted names as well as the records of all other applicants would be placed before the PM’s committee.
Meanwhile, the court clarified that it was not closing the matter and all questions relating to legality of the process would remain open.
The NGO sought transparency in the appointment process, claiming that the Centre was going ahead with the appointment of CVC and VC without giving wide publicity to the vacancies arising on the completion of tenure of the then CVC Pradip Kumar and the then VC J.M. Garg.
