Major amendments needed to give effect to SC order on CVC

Also, the CVC, which has no recognition in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), will have to be assigned “policing” powers. The court had directed that the Central Vigilance Commissioner be appointed “immediately” by the President and selected by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, Leader of the Opposition and a panel of distinguished civil servants.

However, with the Lok Sabha dissolved — there is no leader of the Opposition now — constitution of such a committee has run into problems. The Government is also examining whether the Supreme Court’s order has rendered Clauses V and VI of the Delhi Police Establishment Act redundant with “immediate” effect. These clauses vest the superintendence of the CBI in the Central Government and empower the latter to appoint the CBI Director.

“With the caretaker Government at the Centre, the amendment in the Act is not possible. Since the next Government is to be installed sometime in March, legally it is a possibility to hold the Supreme Court’s order in abeyance till the political crisis is over and continue with the exisitng system,” sources in the Government said.

Meanwhile, there are murmurs in the IPS lobby in the bureaucracy as it feels that the CBI will now be under the control of IAS officers in the CVC.

The IPS Association is likely to have its executives’ meet next week to examine the implications of the Supreme Court order. Its Secretary Kamleshwar Prasad said that a formal comment would come only after the meeting.