SC asks Centre to apprise on clearance rules on govt officers

The Supreme Court today asked the Centre to apprise it about the rules and format followed by the Central Vigilance Commission in giving clearance for appointment of an officer in government departments.
The apex court sought the details after Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said that the Government in 2014 came out with a particular format in dealing with the issue of vigilance clearance by the CVC.
"The Solicitor General to file an affidavit on behalf of CVC indicating the current procedure and format in which vigilance clearance is guaranteed," a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices R Banumathi and U U Lalit directed.

The bench sought the affidavit while reserving its order on an appeal filed in 2012 by Education Consultants India Ltd's SC/ST Employees Welfare Association against extension of tenure granted to its CMD Anju Banerjee in 2010.
The appeal was filed against the verdict of the Delhi High Court which had dismissed the petition alleging that no vigilance clearance was obtained.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the association, alleged that the tenure was extended when several CVC cases were pending against her and CVC had not given clear vigilance clearance to her.

He said that whistleblower Rajesh Gouhari was victimized despite there being several CVC correspondences to the effect that the CMD should stop continuous victimization of the whistle blower.

However, the Solicitor General claimed that he was not the whistleblower and his services were terminated after a thorough enquiry.
Banerjee was appointed as CMD, Education Consultants India Private Ltd (EduCIL) in 2005 for a five year tenure.
The petition said objections were raised by the CVC on her appointment and in a letter addressing HRD Ministry, the commission had mentioned there were irregularities in the Management of EDCIL, including abolition of post of CVO and victimization of the alleged whistleblower.
It said that on November 9, 2010, in response to CVC's letter raising objection, HRD Ministry had stated that she is clear from vigilance angle.

Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) Policy and Procedure requires vigilance clearance as one of the mandatory requirements and mentions that the board while sending its recommendations to concerned administrative ministry/ department also conveys the recommendation to the CVC to enable them to initiate advance action for processing vigilance clearance, the petition said.