The Congress on Wednesday demanded the appointment of Sanjay Kothari as the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) be scrapped, saying the entire process was vitiated, and asked for a fresh selection process.
At a press conference at the party headquarters, senior leader Manish Tewari called the process displayed that both “procedure and propriety was completely thrown away at the level of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister”.
As reported by The Hindu on Tuesday, Mr. Tewari pointed out that Finance Secretary Rajeev Kumar was a member of the Search Committee to select potential candidates for the post as well as a shortlisted candidate himself.
“How can an applicant be a member of the Search Committee? It is bizarre that you are a judge in your own case,” said Mr. Tewari.
At Monday’s meeting of the High Powered Committee presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had raised this issue, Mr. Modi is learnt to have instructed officials to follow norms.
Referring to such news reports, Mr. Tewari said, “What does the Prime Minister do? He pulls out a paper from his pocket and chooses someone who was not even an applicant.”
Mr. Tewari said the process now had not only been vitiated but described it as “illegal and unconstitutional. Even a peon in the government is not selected this way,” he claimed.
“What does the government want to hide that the CVC has to be their person?” he asked.
“We, therefore, demand that the process of appointment be scrapped in its entirety and a fresh process is undertaken.” Asked if the Congress is going to legally challenge the appointment, Mr. Tewari said the matter is serious and sensitive and “all options are open”.
Mr. Tewari also referred to a purported statement made by U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his India visit.
“I saw a video clip where President Trump was saying India has not treated them [U.S.] well. I think it’s an insult to our country and hope that the Ministry of External Affairs will respond,” he said.
