CVC red-faced over his rogues8217; gallery

For instance, the list of officers of doubtful integrity, flashed on the CVC website last weekend, contains the names of Suresh Kumar and S M Patnaik, both long gone. It also created an erroneous impression about former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Mahesh Prasad, which Vittal sheepishly admitted in a letter of regret to Prasad.

And that8217;s not all. The list names several retired bureaucrats, all out of the running for sensitive official posts and therefore off the government8217;s radar screen. One of them, J Alexander, has joined politics and is a Congress MLA inKarnataka. 8220;So who is he Vittal warning and what about?8221; asked one irate IAS officer.

While wounded bureaucrats ponder over their counterattack, the gathering storm is threatening to develop into a showdown between the IAS clique and the CVC. In the process, the effort to book the corrupt and keep the bureaucracy clean may come a cropper.

PMO circles are believed to have taken a dim view of the controversy in the making. Highly-placed sources in the PMO indicated that they may be forced to seek legal advice to define the CVC8217;s jurisdiction and powers as these are now being questioned thanks to his ill-advised Net play. The problem has been exacerbated because the CVC8217;s status remains nebulous. The draft bill giving him statutory powers has been referred to a select committee of Parliament and is not law yet.

In fact, the reaction in IAS and IPS circles is precisely along these lines. 8220;Who does the CVC think he is?8221; one officer demanded. 8220;He has overstepped himself.8221;

One of the affectedofficers, Ramesh Chandra, presently Principal Secretary Finance in the Delhi Government, is believed to be thinking of suing the CVC for libel, IAS sources revealed. The charges against him are yet to be proved but he has been branded, thanks to the website, they said.Ironically, according to guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training, the list sent out by the CVC over cyberspace is supposed to be kept secret. This is in keeping with the accepted norm that a person is presumed innocent until proved guilty.

In addition, till now, the CVC8217;s recommendations on 8220;major penalty8221; as opposed to 8220;minor penalty8221; have not been binding on the concerned department or service.

In fact, more often than not, the CVC8217;s suggestions have been overturned except in cases where the officer concerned has been held guilty by a court of law. The Department of Personnel and Training may have to seek legal clarifications on the status of the CVC8217;s recommendations in view of the statutory powers vested inthe Commission now.

What has upset the IAS and IPS lobbies the most is the fact that the website ignored other departments like Income Tax, Banking, Customs, etc. where corruption is perceived to be as rampant. 8220;The list is clearly selective,8221; grumbled an officer. The Officers8217; Associations of both services are likely to take up the matter strongly with the Government. Vittal was unavailable for comment.