Who gets the SEBI jobs?

With T S Krishnamurthy moving to the poll panel, one very eligible contender for the SEBI chairman’s post is out of the race. Unless the government comes up with a complete outsider like G V Ramakrishna (who is now rated as the best regulator so far), the bets are in favour of Chairman D R Mehta getting an extension. But there is a serious hitch and it relates to a case filed against the change in rules, which gave Mehta a five-year term.

He had told the court that he would not offer himself for re-appointment on completion of his term. Whether this bars him from getting an extension will probably be decided by the Attorney General, but it will make the government look foolish a country of one billion people and a huge financial sector finds it impossible to find anyone fit to takeover as SEBI chairman. If true, the financial system needs an urgent shakeout.