The Supreme Court’s judgment quashing the appointment of the incumbent Central Vigilance Commissioner is a shot in the arm for probity in public life. We do not know whether there was any compulsion of coalition politics in the appointment. At one stage, it was pointed out that the pending palmolein case against the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) nominee was not made known to the appointment committee. It is at the root of many improper appointments. A few years ago, a head of the Central Board of Excise and Customs was caught in a bribery case.
At that time it was discovered that he already had a dubious record of integrity in his earlier service. It is very easy for a dishonest official to get the papers adverse to him removed from his service file. In the past, in its website, the CVC used to carry the names of corrupt officials who had been punished. So the removal of any paper from their service files was of no help. It is time the CVC revived the practice of having a hall of shame listing out all the despicable and shameless characters right from the first case indicating their offences, the punishment or promotion given, where they had worked when caught and where and what they are now. It will reveal the types of characters adorning high places in government and the public sector. The CVC should do this before anyone asks for the information under the Right to Information Act and publicises it. One hopes the Commission’s papers are tamper-proof.
A Seshan, Mumbai
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