President Mukherjee approves appointments of KV Chowdary as CVC

Vijai Sharma was appointed the new Chief Information Commissione

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday approved the appointment of K V Chowdary, former chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and senior-most information commissioner Vijai Sharma as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC).

The two posts had been vacant for nine months and the Opposition had accused the government of laxity in making these appointments, which are key to ensuring transparency and probity in governance.

The President also approved two other appointments — Indian Bank chairman T M Bhasin as a Vigilance Commissioner and former social justice and empowerment secretary Sudhir Bhargava as Information Commissioner.

The appointments had been finalised a week ago, after the selection committee presided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met and cleared the names. Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, was also on the panel.

The appointments had been held up with no designated Leader of Opposition to sit on the selection committees, after which amendments were made in the legislations.

Chowdary's selection, however, was not without controversy, with senior lawyers Ram Jethmalani and Prashant Bhushan questioning Chowdary’s credentials.

Chowdary will be the first non- IAS appointee to be made CVC. A retired Indian Revenue Service officer, Chowdary had been working as the adviser to the Supreme Court-appointed special investigation team, probing black money cases.