HC seeks Coal India, CVC reply on appointment of 8 GMs

Delhi High Court today sought the response of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on a plea challenging the appointment of eight General Managers in Coal India Limited (CIL) in 2011.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath also issued notice to CIL and CVC asking them to explain their stand to the allegation that the eight appointments were made in an "arbitrary manner".
The court has now fixed the matter for further hearing on March 9.
The court was hearing a plea by Muzbir Rehman, an employee of South Eastern Coalfield Limited, who has challenged the appointments made by CIL vide appointment letters issued on March 16, 2011.

In his plea, he alleged that the appointment letters were issued to candidates who did not fulfill the minimum eligibility criteria for the posts of General Manager (GM).
"Eight persons appointed as GM in E-8 grade were found not eligible as per the terms of the notification and had not submitted the documents required to ascertain their qualification," the plea contended.

It further claimed that Rehman has sent a complaint to CVC, which was forwarded to Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO), who has not investigated.
"The CVC being an statutory authority wrongfully delegated the complaint to the CVO, which in turn never acted upon," he submitted.

The petitioner prayed that the CVC be directed to probe the complaint of August 1, 2013 in a time-bound manner and also sought lodging of an FIR if prima facie case is made out.
(Reopens LGD36)
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain, appearing for Coal Ministry, said the persons whose appointments have been challenged were not before the court and the government has nothing to do with their appointments.
Accepting the arguments of ASG, the court did not issue notice to the ministry and deleted it from the list of parties.