Madam,
For the last seven months, two posts
of Vigilance Commissioners in the Central Vigilance Commission have been lying
vacant and we understand that Shri Pratyush Sinha, CVC will also demit
office in about two months time. While we have drawn attention of Government at
the highest level to the unsatisfactory manner in which CVC has functioned
during the last several years, this has produced no results. Let me take but
one example; it would be recalled that after the unfortunate murder of Mr. Satyendra Dubey, while working in
NHAI, CVC issued a resolution extending protection to whistleblowers to save
them from violent consequences. Information available to us shows that after
the issue of this resolution, every whistleblower who
approached the CVC, came to grief while the culprits remain, by and large,
unharmed to this day.
We believe that this unintended
deleterious consequence is not a systemic failure rather it is the failure of
those appointed to these high positions. In other words, the process of
selection is wrong and so long as it continues, we will keep getting
appointments which provide a perfect alibi for Government and nothing but
frustration for us citizens. We suggest that the process of selection needs to
be immediately amended with a view to secure the widest public participation.
After all, it must be acknowledged that it was public scrutiny which prevented
Justice Dinakaran from securing elevation to the
Supreme Court. Many countries follow a process of public exposure by the
competent authority of individuals who they wish to elevate to high office. We
believe that the time has come when we should follow suit and what better
opportunity than now when all posts in the Central Vigilance Commission are
available for appointment. Government is free to choose whom they like but
before their appointment their names must be exposed to public scrutiny so that
all information available in relation to these individuals is taken into
account prior to appointment.
We believe that to continue to
follow the present practice in case of CVC and other such vital positions will
perpetuate the present state of dysfunctional institutions. This kind of action
requires political resolution rather than legal regulation and it can only be
foisted from outside because any Government of the day (whichever it may be)
would always find it inconvenient to do so. We appeal to you in the interest of
probity in governance to take this matter further.
Yours sincerely,
Sd/-
(R.C.Lahoti)
Smt. Sonia Gandhi,
Chairperson,
UPA
& National Advisory Council,
10,
Janpath,