CBI chief appointment after final orders: CAT

By S. Rajendran

BANGALORE, APRIL 28. The Bangalore Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), with reference to a petition filed before it by an officer of the rank of Director-General of Police, has ruled that the appointment of a new director for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) shall be made only after its final orders on the petition.

The present incumbent, Mr. R. K. Raghavan, is due to retire on April 30.

The CAT order has placed the Centre in a piquant situation as it will have to necessarily await the final orders or take recourse to other legal avenues. The next hearing of the CAT in this matter is posted for June 8.

The interim orders were passed by the Bench comprising the vice- Chairman, Mr. N. Sanjiva Reddy, and Mr. Srikantan, member.

Dr. R. Vishwanathan, DGP, Fire Service and Home Guards, ranked fifth in the order of merit of the 1966 batch of IPS officers, said he was well ahead of the others being mentioned for the post. Mr. P. C. Sharma, Special Director, CBI, was ranked 54th in the same batch, while the other contender, Mr. S. C. Chaube, was ranked 16th. Mr. Chaube is presently DGP, Indo- Tibetan Border Police.

The CAT said: ``We are of the view that it is just and proper to pass an interim order that the appointment of the CBI Director shall be subject to the final outcome of this Original Application (OA) pending further orders.''

Dr. Vishwanathan's case is being argued by the former Karnataka DG and IGP, Mr. C. Dinakar, who had challenged the appointment of Mr. Raghavan. While the CAT in that case had set aside the appointment of Mr. Raghavan, the High Court had subsequently stayed the tribunal's order.

In his petition, Dr. Vishwanathan said he fulfilled the three criteria laid down by the Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain case - seniority, integrity and experience in investigation and anti- corruption work - for selection as the CBI Director. ``I have also maintained the highest standards of service and integrity.'' He had served for nearly 16 years as a Superintendent of Police in the CBI and later as Deputy Inspector General and Inspector General of Police in the Central Industrial Security Force. As per an apex court order, the field of choice for the post of the CBI Director should be spread to all officers serving as DGPs either at the Centre or in the States.

Dr. Vishwanathan said his thesis for Ph.D, ``The Ethics of Civil Servants in India'' was also based on his experience of anti- corruption work in the CBI and the State Vigilance Department. He also did a four-month stint in the Interpol Secretariat, Paris.

Since the CBI was the nodal agency for interacting with the Interpol and was currently investigating several matters that required an ability to comprehend documents in French and communicate with countries such as Switzerland, his knowledge of French should put him ahead of the others in the race for the post, he said.

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