No vacancy, says railway ministry after CBI arrests official

The railway ministry said in a statement Saturday that "no relevant board level post is vacant". The announcement came after the CBI arrested Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar for allegedly paying a bribe to get a more lucrative post.

"Adverting to the reports by a section of the media regarding further aspirational postings said to be desired by Mahesh Kumar, it is stated that no relevant board level post is vacant at present," said a statement from the Ministry of Railways.

According to the statement, the post of Railway Board Member Staff had fallen vacant upon superannuation of A.K. Vohra, Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers (IRSEE), April 30, 2013.

"Mahesh Kumar,Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers (IRSSE), was the senior-most eligible officer fulfilling the tenure linked norms as also his career performance record fully met the necessary performance criteria with the availability of mandatory CVC clearance, for appointment against this post," said the statement.

"He was accordingly considered and appointed as member staff, Railway Board, on May 1, 2013. No officer senior to Mahesh Kumar fulfilling the norms governing appointment to the post of member staff has been superseded," said the statement.

As per tenure-linked norms, an officer is eligible for appointment as a member of the Railway Board if he fulfills the twin conditions of having worked as a general manager of an Open Line Railway for one year and has a balance tenure of two years of service on the date of occurrence of the vacancy.

The officer should also be clear from the vigilance angle, the statement added.