The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) may soon see change at the top. On Friday, CBDT corridors were abuzz with the news that the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had directed the government to consider Narendra Singh, a member of the board, for the post of the CBDT chairman on merit, and re-instate his seniority with retrospective effect. Singh had told CAT that he had been overlooked in terms of seniority during the appointment of the current CBDT chairman S S N Moorthy.

The selection committee that appointed the chairman comprised top secretary-rank government officials, including the revenue secretary.

Moorthy was appointed the chairman in February this year for two years. A 1973-batch IRS officer, he has served as director general income tax for two years before joining the board as a member.

Narendra Singh, a 1972-batch officer, was appointed a board member this year. However, he might still not get it as the directive only asks the selection committee to re-instate his seniority, say sources. Merit will be a key consideration for his appointment as the CBDT head, even though Singh has a chance to get appointed as chairman on the basis of seniority. Sources say certain criteria for determining his eligibility for the top job might not be considered because of the absence of certain records and files.