HC reserves order on maintainability of PIL on Patra's appntmt

The Delhi High Court today reserved its decision on the maintainability of a PIL opposing the appointment of BJP national spokesman Sambit Patra as an independent director on the board of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar heard arguments for several hours on behalf of the Centre and an NGO, which had moved the petition, and said it will pass orders on November 8 on whether notice has to be issued in the matter.
The NGO, Energy Watchdog, has also sought cancellation of the appointment of Shashi Shanker as ONGC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

The NGO, represented by senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, questioned the eligibility of Patra to be appointed as an independent director and said that proper procedure was not followed for appointing him to the post.
He said the BJP spokesperson was a doctor and ONGC has nothing to do in the field of medicine to appoint him on its Board.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, who defended the central government's decision to appoint Patra to ONGC, said the BJP spokesperson was successfully running an NGO for the downtrodden which showed his management skills and hence he was eligible for the post.

Bhushan, however, contended that Patra, being an active member of the ruling BJP, would not be able to play the role of an Independent Director as he might tow the government line.

On this point, the bench observed that everyone in a company or otherwise has a distant or close political affiliation with a party and if the petitioner's argument was accepted, they would all be knocked off.
The NGO's lawyer also argued that appointing Patra to the post for a remuneration of around Rs 23 lakh per year amounted to grant of state largesse to a private person.
Shanker's appointment as ONGC CMD was opposed on the ground that he was suspended in February 2015 for six months in connection with a probe into the award of a contract by the PSU.

It was also argued by the NGO that the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) did not appear to have any record of the suspension, as per its response to a RTI query.
The bench, however, said that Shanker did receive CVC clearance and therefore, non-provision of suspension details to the NGO cannot be challenged in the petition.
On the appointment of Shanker, Jain said he was appointed after CVC clearance and was suspended in the normal course of the enquiry proceedings. The suspension was later revoked as nothing negative was found against him.
Jain also argued that the BJP was different from the government and as Patra was not a part of the government, he can be appointed as an Independent Director. He also claimed that independent directors do not draw any remuneration, so no state largesse was being doled out.

Rebutting the government claims on Patra's appointment, Bhushan said if running an NGO would qualify a person for management position, then "anybody and everybody would be eligible" and there would be no need for any criteria.
Bhushan further said that as per a 2016-17 annual report of ONGC, independent directors who completed a full year had drawn on an average Rs 23 lakh as remuneration.