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| New Delhi |
Unlike the selection of Thomas when leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj recorded her dissent and the appointment was challenged in the Supreme Court on the ground that there was a corruption chargesheet pending against him, there was no confrontation this time around.
It did not take the selection committee of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, home minister P Chidambaram and Swaraj long on Saturday to zero in on Kumar, a career bureaucrat known for being a steady hand at the wheel.
After the shock of the SC order, it took the Centre four months to select Kumar, an IIT- Delhialumnus, as the anti-corruption watchdog after the Supreme Court quashed Thomas`s appointment. Though no official announcement was made and Swaraj did not disclose Kumar's name, she said the decision was unanimous.
In Thomas`s case Swaraj had cited the pending chargesheet against the former Kerala cadre IAS officer in the palmolein case. On a public interest litigation filed on the issue, the Supreme Court quashed Thomas`s appointment on March 3. The court said the panel failed to consider all relevant material on Thomas.
The government had shortlisted four candidates for the CVC's post. Other than Kumar, the recently-retired home secretary G K Pillai, former health secretary Naresh Dayal and Railway Board member A P Mishra were also considered.
It is felt the government would be comfortable with Kumar, who is not known for an adventurist streak. Pillai has been an outspoken, plain-speaking home secretary and isn't a "conventional" bureaucrat. He was also reportedly not keen about a post-retirement assignment.
Kumar is due to retire as defence secretary on July 31. As CVC, he will have a four-year tenure. An IAS officer of the 1972 batch from the Haryana cadre, Kumar has held several important appointments in Central and state governments. Before becoming defence secretary, he was secretary, defence production.
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