Eminent banker Suresh N Patel takes oath as vigilance commissioner

Eminent banker Suresh N Patel on Wednesday took oath as the Vigilance Commissioner in the anti-corruption watchdog CVC, officials said.

Patel, who is in Ahmedabad, was administered the oath of office by Central Vigilance Commissioner Sanjay Kothari through video conference, they said.

Patel's name to the post was recommended by a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February this year.

He has over three decades of banking experience, and has also worked as the executive director in Oriental Bank of Commerce before taking over as the Managing Director and CEO of Andhra Bank in 2015.

He had been member of the management committee of Indian Banks' Association, member of Bankers' Institute of Rural Development at NABARD, president, state level Bankers' Committee in Andhra Pradesh and also the president of the Bankers' Institute of Rural and Entrepreneurship Development, according to a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.

He is also a permanent invitee to the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems (BPSS) of the RBI, it said.

Patel, aged 62, was a member of the advisory board for banking and financial frauds of the Central Vigilance Commission. Patel resigned from the board after his selection as the vigilance commissioner.

He will have a tenure of over two years, till late December, 2022, in the CVC.

The tenure of a vigilance commissioner is of four years or till the incumbent attains the age of 65 years.

The post of the vigilance commissioner was lying vacant since June last year after T M Bhasin completed his tenure.

With Patel's appointment, the probity watchdog is in full strength.

The CVC can have a central vigilance commissioner and two vigilance commissioners.

Sharad Kumar is working as the other vigilance commissioner.

The CVC is appointed by the president on the recommendation of the committee consisting of the prime minister as its chairperson, and the home minister and the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha as its members.