The Government has taken advantage of Section 6(3) of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, which allows the President to retire one-third of the members every two years. This provision was repealed under the ordinance that S Jaipal Reddy had issued when appointing the Prasar Bharati board in November 1997. That ordinance lapsed and so did Sushma Swaraj's which had restored this provision.

The Ministry believes that the original Act has now been reinstated and though the appointment letters of Yadav and Thapar say that the President has selected them for six year terms, the Ministry maintains (after having consulted the Attorney General andthe Law Ministry) that it is within its rights to terminate the appointments of the two.

Using the criteria of experience, qualifications and current as well as potential contribution to the organisation, a departmental committee of the Ministry has decided that Yadav and Thapar should be the first to go; former Ambassador to Washington, Abid Hussain, and former ISRO chairman U R Rao should be the next to go in another two years; and veteran editor B G Verghese should be the only one to complete his six-year term. Yadav and Thapar's term ends on Monday.

The lapse of S Jaipal Reddy's ordinance in 1998 had led to the departure of S S Gill, as being over 62, he became too old for the post of CEO. Gill had gone to court against the Central Government but had won little support from his erstwhile colleagues on the board.

Bracing for an attack from the Left, the Ministry insists that it is purely an administrative decision which is good in law. It is now intending to appoint a three-member committee ofexperts to restructure Doordarshan.