Govt in a bind over new Vigilance chief

CHANDIGARH: At a time when the Haryana Government is looking at the State Vigilance Bureau to “fix the wrongs” of the previous Congress government, choosing a chief to head the bureau seems to be an uphill battle, especially since the BJP government in the state has no “favourites”.

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

At a time when the Haryana Government is looking at the State Vigilance Bureau to “fix the wrongs” of the previous Congress government, choosing a chief to head the bureau seems to be an uphill battle, especially since the BJP government in the state has no “favourites”.

With the present incumbent, Director General (DG) SN Vashisht, slated to retire on November 30, the search for a successor has begun in a top heavy Police Department.

Sources said a committee, comprising Chief Secretary DS Dhesi and Home Secretary PK Das, is likely to meet over the next few days to make its recommendations even as a few aspirants have begun “lobbying” for the post.

The committee is likely to prepare a panel of five names among 20 officers in the rank of DG or ADGP based on various criterion, including confidential reports of officers and service record. This will be forwarded to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for the final call.

The selection of the Vigilance chief is particularly important since the government is keen on pursuing several cases and conducting “fair inquiries” into the scams of the previous Congress government, including the allotment of industrial plots.

Among the names doing the rounds for the post are that of the senior most officer, Parminder Rai who is posted as DG, Prisons. The names of two other senior officers, Mohinder Lal and MS Mann, are not under consideration for the only reason that they are slated to retire in six months, while the government would prefer an officer who can serve longer.

Sources said other names include DGs K Selvaraj, BS Sandhu, SS Deswal, KP Singh and AK Dhull. Officers said though Vashisth was appointed to the post, the Vigilance Bureau chief is generally an ADGP-rank officer. This opens the doors for many others for the post, including KK Sharma, KK Sindhu and KK Mishra.

ADGP, SVB, BK Sinha, is learnt to be angling for the post since he is already second to Vashisht and is involved with the ongoing inquiries in the cases.

Sources, however, said the government’s emphasis in selecting a Vigilance chief is likely to be on choosing an officer with a “clean image”, in tune with the government’s policy of “zero tolerance to corruption” which might mean that a couple of names may be dropped on the basis of their service record or association with parties that have been in power in Haryana.