GNS Srinagar May 29 : Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today opposed the nomination of Mr Kuldeep Khudda as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) of the state. Registering her dissent against the proposal at the meeting of the selection committee for appointment of CVC and Vigilance Commissioners here today leader of the opposition and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said appointment of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioners of vigilance was extremely crucial to fighting corruption. The exercise has therefore to be more than mere filling up of vacancies or post retirement rehabilitation she said.
She told the panel that the issue of dealing with corruption in an institutionalized manner has occupied centre stage at the national level for quite some time. The legal battle involving the subject of transparency in the appointment of CVC of India was finally closed by the Supreme Court of India with a verdict that has far reaching consequences. Guidelines have been laid down by the apex court on the subject which in our opinion have necessarily to be followed by J&K as well though these were issued in the context of the central law she said.
One of the crucial guidelines issued by the Supreme Court clearly directs that the choice of CVC should not be restricted to civil servants alone. Our law was amended last year only to fit the specifications of a particular variety even among the civil servants.
In the wake of SC judgment Mehbooba informed the committee that she wrote a letter to the Chief Minister to review the state law in light of the new guidelines which have been adopted by the central government already. She promised the cooperation of her party in passing any amendments to fulfill the mandate of Supreme Court but did not receive even the courtesy of an acknowledgement of her letter.
The civil society too has been demanding such amendments which can be brushed aside only if the government wants to restrict the watchdog positions only to its favorites irrespective of merit, Mehbooba told the committee.
On the nomination of Khuda Mehbooba told the panel that cases like the one involving the death of Haji Mohammad Yusuf a National Conference worker and the Rs 90 crore scam in the JK cricket association have been of sensational nature except for the police. The Haji Yusuf case involves serious dimensions of death in police custody and political corruption at the highest places of power. No headway has been made in either case. If the top most police officer who oversaw police inaction in these cases involving the high any mighty is appointed as CVC the whole exercise will look like quid pro quo and the selection process will lack credibility she pointed out.
Mehbooba said Khuda has been the police chief for nearly 5 years. He has been closely associated with the policies and actions of the present government and could not be trusted with neutrality. Mehbooba said he carries the direct and additional burden of innocent killings in 2009 and 2010 police action. He is also reportedly facing public interest litigation in the state high court over accusations of his involvement extrajudicial killings in Doda when he was DIG of that range. Though the petition is still to be admitted, it has not been rejected either and the allegations established by a crime branch probe need to be investigated properly.
In view of these facts Mehbooba said, Khudda’s nomination would smack of quid pro quo and amounted to a brazen compromise on fighting corruption. She said it would seriously dent the credibility of the commission if it were to be established the way the government wanted to fill it up with favorites. The CVC would look like a crime and corruption cover up body rather than a Vigilance Commission.
Mehbooba said alternatively Mr Ashok Bhan and Samuel Verghese could be considered for the top job in view of their honesty and integrity.
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