Panel shortlists Bhattacharya, Viswanathan for SBI top post

Going by the rule, only one of the four managing directors, Arundhati Bhattacharya, is eligible for the post

A government-appointed search panel is understood to have shortlisted Arundhati Bhattacharya and S Viswanathan for the post of chairman of the country’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), which falls vacant on Monday. Both Bhattacharya and Viswanathan are currently managing directors (MDs) at the bank.

All the four MDs of SBI were called for the interview on Saturday, sources said.

Incumbent chairman Pratip Chaudhuri is set to retire at the end of this month.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the prime minister, had recently suggested all four managing directors be called for the interview.

The finance ministry had sought an exemption in the regulatory guidelines so that more candidates could be interviewed.

ACC comprises the home minister and the administrative ministry in-charge (the finance ministry in this case).

According to the norms, a candidate for the post of chairman is eligible for the interview if he/she has at least two years of service left before retirement. Going by this rule, only one of the four managing directors, Arundhati Bhattacharya, was eligible for the post.

Another managing director, A Krishna Kumar, has one year and three months left before his retirement. He will retire in November next year, while Bhattacharya, recently elevated as MD, will retire in March 2016.

The term of senior-most Managing Director Hemant Contractor, who is group executive for international banking, ends in February.

S Viswanathan, MD in-charge of subsidiaries and associates, will retire in April 2014.

Prior to her elevation, Bhattacharya was MD and chief executive of SBI Caps, the merchant banking subsidiary of SBI.