A race for the board

The finance ministry, it is learnt, is working on a major revamp of SEBI in order to stop it from being a one-man show run by the chairman. A part of the plan was to revamp the organisation and bring in two full time directors in addition to the chairman. This was to happen only after D R Mehta8217;s term ended in February. So, in addition to the race for the chairman8217;s job, there is a quiet race to become full-time board directors of SEBI. Naturally, the SEBI executive directors see themselves as top contenders. But this too has a hitch.

The revamp cannot happen if D R Mehta gets an extension because it would seem like a dilution of his powers. Also, many of the senior most executives in SEBI are simply there on deputation from other cadres and cannot automatically assume that they will bag the posts. Will the chairman8217;s extension dash the ambitions of his juniors or will the government simply avoid decisions and settle for an even more difficult status quo?