Out of place

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) may have declared that Chief Statistician T C A Anant’s appointment violated the eligibility criteria specified for the job, but the two-member bench did not appear entirely happy with its findings. After a lengthy explanation of their decision, the members wrote, “…despite giving our anxious consideration to the fact that the selection to a high office on the basis of recommendations of a Search Committee consisting of high dignitaries and experts on the field should not be ordinarily interfered with…”. In other words, they were making it clear that they were following the letter and not the spirit of the rules.