PIL in HC seeks ouster of person holding CGDA post

A PIL was today moved in the Delhi High Court seeking removal of the current Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA), alleging she was "ineligible" for holding the post.
The plea was listed for hearing before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, which asked the petitioner to verify whether a similar petition is being heard by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).
"See if the CAT is seized with the matter. We cannot have both forums dealing with same issue," the bench said and listed the matter for hearing on November 3.
The petitioner, Vivekananda Manchanda, has alleged that Veena Prasad, an Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) officer, was "illegally" holding the post of CGDA as she was "unfit" for the job.

"It is a clear case of usurpation of public office of CGDA," the plea has claimed and sought quashing of the March 1 order by which Prasad was appointed to the post.
The petitioner has claimed that the post of CGDA has financial, administrative as well as regulatory control over more than 22,000 employees of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) of the Ministry of Defence and a person not eligible for the office should not be given such responsibilities.
He has also alleged that Prasad's appointment to the post was in violation of the recruitment rules and procedure.