NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Kapil Dev Tripathi, who was shifted to the Ministry of Heavy Industries a week ago after being removed as Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Secretary, has now been given additional charge of his former slot in the CVC. A 1980-batch IAS officer of Assam Meghalaya cadre, Tripathi was appointed Secretary of Department of Public Enterprises under the Ministry of Heavy Industries, as part of a massive bureaucratic shuffling.
He would now hold both the posts for a period of three months, with effect from October 1, or until further instructions, said an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.
The move, according to high level sources, was necessitated after top-level posts fell vacant in the CVC. Of the three-member CVC, presently only one commissioner is there, virtually rendering the Constitutionally mandated anti-corruption watchdog dysfunctional.
CVC chief, Pradeep Sharma, had retired last week and before him one of the Commissioners, J M Garg. No one has been appointed yet, though the CVC Act, 2003, allows the President to direct the Commissioner to act as CVC chief, in the case of vacancy.
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is hearing a plea on non-transparency of appointment to the CVC posts. The apex court has asked the government to explain how would it appoint Central Vigilance Commissioner or Central Information Commissioner in the absence of a Leader of Opposition. The case would come up for hearing on October 9.