Archana’s appointment is illegal, says Supreme Court

Terming the appointment of senior IPS officer Archana Ramasundaram as Additional Director in CBI as illegal, the Supreme Court on Friday told the Centre on Friday that the selection panel was the authority on recommending the names for the posts in the agency.

“Having considered the statutory provisions, with regard to the appointment of officers above the level of SP, we find the petitioner [Vineet Narain] has been able to make out a strong prima facie case. It was an accepted position that the selectee [Ms. Ramasundaram] was not recommended by the selection committee. In these circumstances we do not find any justification for her to continue to function as Additional Director of CBI. We accordingly restrain the respondents from allowing Ms. Ramasundaram to function as Additional Director till the next date of hearing on July 14 ... ,” the Bench said.