Pradeep Kumar is new CVC

Formal orders appointing Kumar will be issued once President Pratibha Patil,who is on tour,returns to the Capital next week.

Kumar will have a three-year term as he will have to demit office on attaining age of 65 years under the CVC Act.

Emerging out of the meeting,Swaraj told mediapersons,“The name of the new CVC has been finalised,no objections were raised. The name will be announced by government.”

While she didn’t announce the name of the next CVC,sources said the name of Kumar,who retires on July 31,was proposed by the government and accepted by Swaraj.

“The other names were also discussed but once all three members agreed on Kumar,the issue was settled,” sources told The Sunday Express.

As reported in the The Indian Express on Saturday,the government had shortlisted the names of Kumar,former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai,former Union Health Secretary Naresh Dayal and Railway Board Member (Engineering) A P Mishra.

The new appointee is an alumnus of IIT-Delhi,who has held several important positions,both in Haryana as well as the Centre,including Secretary,Defence Production,and Secretary,Disinvestment,Chairman,National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),as well as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

As the new CVC,Kumar will have a busy tenure,what with several important matters kept on hold in the absence of a CVC.

In March this year,a Supreme Court bench,while declaring Thomas’s appointment as CVC invalid,had issued a set of guidelines to the government for the appointment of CVC.

Thomas was selected in September 2010 despite objections raised by Swaraj. The Supreme Court had observed that the PM-headed committee had not considered the relevant documents and that it had ignored earlier recommendations for action against Thomas on the palmolein scam in Kerala listed by the Department of Personnel and Training.