Dilli Ka Babu: Future Moves

There is much speculation in Dilli about the future of chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Sushil Chandra. Chandra is scheduled to retire in May-end, but it is being said that the Centre is likely to give him another extension. It may be recalled that Chandra was scheduled to retire last May but less than a month ahead of his retirement, he was re-appointed as CBDT chairman.

The speculation has been triggered by the fact that while the government is going ahead with the process of appointments for two posts of members in CBDT, it has not made any move towards filling the vacancy that would arise after Mr Chandra retires.

Curiously, some believe that there is a high likelihood that Mr Chandra may take over from 1984-batch IPS officer Karnal Singh as head of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Mr Singh is rumoured to be tipped for the position of Vigilance Commissioner in the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). Watch this space for updates.

Whistleblower fights on
Whistleblower Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi is still fighting an old battle. The Haryana cadre officer who is now posted in Uttarakhand, has accused Haryana forest department deputy secretary S.N. Roy of making "a false statement" before the Punjab and Haryana high court and sought criminal proceedings for perjury. Mr Chaturvedi is seeking compensation for the “harassment” meted out to him by the Haryana government.

According to sources, the Haryana government has filed a petition seeking quashing of the President’s order recommending a CBI probe into the scams exposed by Mr Chaturvedi. According to Mr Chaturvedi, Mr Roy has claimed that Haryana had not passed any final order against which Mr Chaturvedi was entitled to file the memorial to President of India under the all-India service rules. Mr Roy has also claimed that memorial sent to President had to be referred to the state government as per the rules, but no such reference was made to or received by the state.

Mr Chaturvedi has further stated that a false and contradictory reply filed by Mr Roy reflects that state government has no respect left for sanctity of court and all these “shenanigans” were aimed at saving some politicians and bureaucrats from an independent CBI investigation.

Senior cop seeks change
A senior Maharashtra cadre IPS officer who  once headed the Satyam scandal investigation has reportedly sought voluntary retirement, ostensibly to try his luck in politics. The 1990-batch officer and Additional DGP (planning and coordination) V.V. Lakshminarayana has requested Director General of Police Satish Mathur to be relieved from the government at the earliest, by waiving off the three-month notice period. In the event his resignation is accepted, he will be the third IPS officer to quit and join politics.

Former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh, a 1980 batch IPS officer, took voluntary retirement on January 31, 2014, and successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from Baghpat, UP. Subsequently, he was inducted into the Narendra Modi Cabinet as minister of state for human resource. Additional director general (special operations) P.K. Jain quit on February 28, 2014, and joined Ramdas Athavale-led RPI. After a brief period, he quit RPI and he is now a member of the Police Complaint Authority.

Some observers believe that Laxminarayana seemed to be unhappy over the manner in which he was side-lined in the state. He was posted as ADG (administration) and later as ADG (planning and coordination), both assignments are considered as “side-postings”.