High-level committee finalises name for CVC post

Four months after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of P J Thomas, a high-level committee chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday finalised the name for the post of chief vigilance commissioner.

"The name has been finalised. The government will announce it. I have not raised any objection," Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said.

The high-level committee comprising Dr Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Swaraj met at the prime minister's official residence here this morning.

Sources had said that a list of probable candidates were prepared by the department of personnel and training which placed it before the selection panel. Those whose names figured in the initial list included Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, former home secretary G K Pillai, former chemicals and fertilisers secretary Bijoy Chatterjee, former secretary of legislative affairs V K Bhasin, former urban development secretary M Ramachandran and personnel secretary Alka Sirohi.

The Supreme Court had on March 3 set aside the appointment of Thomas as the CVC and also laid down stringent guidelines for future appointments.

The apex court had termed as "illegal" the September 3, 2010 recommendation for appointment of Thomas as CVC since the high-powered committee did not consider the pending chargesheet against Thomas in the palmolein import scam.