Govt removes CMD of state-owned producer of currency & stamps

Decision to sack M S Rana of SPMCIL follows Delhi HC order seeking action based on a PIL filed against him

The government has removed M S Rana as CMD of state-owned SPMCIL, which produces bank notes, coins, postage stamps, non-judicial stamps and other official documents.

The decision has come after the Delhi High Court asked the government to take action against Rana on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

The government has named Praveen Garg, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Finance, as Chairman and Managing Director of the Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) till a regular appointment is made.

According to sources, Appointments Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi declined extension to M S Rana as CMD of SPMCIL.

SPMCIL, a Miniratna Category-I CPSE, is under administrative control of the Finance Ministry.

The PIL alleged before the court that Rana was "completely ineligible" for the post and he managed to get appointed by falsely claiming eligibility.

The Court during the hearing on the matter had asked the government on what grounds Rana's tenure which ended in March 2014 was being extended and that the Finance Ministry had refused to extend it.

The petition had claimed that Rana was appointed without the requisite clearance from the CVC and sought an order removing him from the office as well as a declaration that his appointment was void ab-initio.

It also alleged that the SPMCIL CMD had been involved in several cases of illegal procurement which caused loss to the public exchequer and compromised the economic security of the country.

It alleged that a show cause notice had been issued to Rana for causing a loss of Rs 100 crore to SPMCIL by wrongly printing the Rs 10 note in 2014 with the signature of ex-RBI Governor D Subbarao.