PM to consult Pawar on CVC appointment

NEW DELHI, Aug 15: As a sequel to the bureaucratic reshuffle, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani will hold ...

NEW DELHI, Aug 15: As a sequel to the bureaucratic reshuffle, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani will hold a meeting tommorrow with the Leader of Opposition Sharad Pawar to discuss the appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC).

The half-an-hour meeting scheduled for forenoon will discuss the draft statute prepared by the Law Commission making the post of the CVC a statutory one as per the directions of the Supreme Court in the hawala judgment.

The meeting, which according to sources is a preliminary one, will discuss the feasibility of making CVC a multi-member body as well the probable members of the panel from which the CVC is to be selected. The Law Commission has endorsed the proposal of the department of personnel making the CVC a multi-member body on the lines of Election Commission.

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Speaking to The Indian Express, Commission chairman Justice B P Jeevan Reddy denied that there was any inordinate delay on part of the Commission in preparing thestatute. “We have made several improvements upon the suggestions made in the judgment. Not only did we have to prepare the CVC bill but two other allied amendment acts also had to be prepared to give effect to the Supreme Court judgment. These were the Delhi Special Police Establishment Amendment Act which would incorporate the procedure for the appointment of the CBI director and the FERA amendment Act that would cover the appointment of Director Enforcement Directorate,” said Justice Reddy. The Commission submitted the draft statute and its report to the Law Ministry last week.

There had been a controversy over the post of the CVC when soon after the judgment, the erstwhile CVC, S V Giri had sent in his resignation as the Government had refused to specify his role despite repeated pleas by him. The post finally fell vacant when he demitted office last week after giving a three-month notice.

However, according to sources, the urgency is is more due to the fact that with the transfer of ED director M KBezbaruah, the Enforcement Directorate is likely to be headless as the appointment can only be done by a panel headed by the CVC. The ED is looking after several sensitive FERA cases involving politicians. As a result of the delay in the appointment of the CVC, recruitment and transfers in both the ED and CBI had been stalled.

As per the hawala judgment, the appointment of the CVC has to be done by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the Leader of Opposition.

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