President's secretary Sanjay Kothari next CVC, ex-IAS officer Julka to be CIC: Officials
New Delhi: Sanjay Kothari, the Secretary to the President, has been selected as the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner by a high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said on Wednesday.
The committee has also chosen by a majority decision, former Information and Broadcasting Secretary Bimal Julka, currently serving as an Information Commissioner, as the new Chief Information Commissioner in the Central Information Commission.
"Kothari and Julka have been selected as the next CVC and CIC," a senior government official said. Both Kothari and Julka are retired Indian Administrative Service officers.
While Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury opposed the decisions, it was supported by other members in the panel -- Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of State for PMO and Personnel Jitendra Singh, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and Secretary Personnel C Chandramouli, sources said.
The panel also decided by majority the appointment of Suresh Patel as Vigilance Commissioner and Anita Pandove as Information Commissioner.
The orders related to the appointments are expected to be issued on Wednesday after formal approval from President Ram Nath Kovind, the official said.
The Central Vigilance Commission is an-corruptiom watchdog with autonomous status.
It is free of control from any executive authority and has the responsibility of monitoring all vigilance activities in the Central government besides advising various authorities in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilance work.
The Central Information Commission was constituted under the Right to Information Act and has the jurisdiction over all central public authorities.
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Activist Snehamayi Krishna moves HC seeking CBI probe into MUDA scam
Bengaluru, Mar 4 (PTI): Activist Snehamayi Krishna on Tuesday moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the single judge order refusing a CBI investigation against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the MUDA site allotment scam.
In his fresh petition, he appealed to the court to set aside the February 7 order passed by Justice M Nagaprasanna, who refused the CBI probe into the matter.
Krishna approached the High Court after the Lokayukta police gave a clean chit to Siddaramaiah and his family members in the MUDA site allotment case recently.
Krishna had been apprehensive about the impartial probe by the Lokayukta police.
In his petition earlier in the High Court, Krishna had contended that an impartial investigation is not possible since Siddaramaiah, being the chief minister, wields immense power and influence over the state departments, especially the state investigating agencies such as the police authorities and the Karnataka Lokayukta police.
Dismissing his petition on February 7, Justice Nagaprasanna said, "The material on record on its perusal nowhere indicates that the investigation conducted by the Lokayukta is partisan, lopsided or shoddy for this court to refer the matter to the CBI for further investigation or reinvestigation. As a result the petition would necessarily meet its dismissal and is accordingly dismissed."
Siddaramaiah, his wife, brother-in-law B M Mallikarjuna Swamy, Devaraju -- from whom Swamy had purchased a land and gifted it to Parvathi -- and others have been named in the FIR registered by the Lokayukta police establishment, located in Mysuru on September 27, 2024, following the order of the Special Court that exclusively deals with criminal cases related to former and elected MPs/MLAs.
