New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea challenging the appointment of former Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) head K.V. Chaudhary as chief vigilance commissioner (CVC) and former CMD of Indian Bank T.M. Bhasin as vigilance commissioner.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M.M. Shantanagoudar had reserved its order after hearing arguments of the petitioner NGO Common Cause in September last year.
Petitioner NGO Common Cause had alleged that Chaudhary and Bhasin did not have “clean record” and a non-transparent procedure was followed while appointing them.
There were serious charges against the two officers, which were not examined at the time of their appointment, it was argued.
It was further alleged that the appointments were “arbitrary, illegal and in violation of the principle of institutional integrity”.
The Centre had defended their appointments, saying it was cleared unanimously by a three-member committee comprising the prime minister, home minister and leader of opposition. Appearing for the Centre, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal said every aspect was considered by the selection committee before they were chosen.