A bench of Justices B D Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva made the remarks while asking the central government's high powered Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) - led by the Prime Minister - to take a call on the extension of tenure of the CMD of Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Ltd (SPMCIL).
"Why should you even have a person who has a slight taint? Even his initial eligibility is in serious doubt. This is a very sensitive case as SPMCIL produces bank notes and mints coins," the bench observed, on a PIL challenging appointment and extension of tenure of the CMD, M S Rana.
HC made it clear it expects the ACC to meet soon and decide on Rana's extension or else the court will step in and issue orders. "When is ACC to take a decision? If you delay it then he will continue on the post. It is a high powered body, this material should be placed before it," the court said, taking note of the fact that Rana's tenure ended in March 2014 and the Finance Ministry has refused to extend it. It also questioned why the material cited in the petition has not been sent to ACC and the government has been "sitting" on it far past two months.
Appearing for the Centre, additional solicitor general Sanjay Jain Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain maintained there is "no negative material against the CMD" and the ACC comprising the Prime Minister and Home Minister is looking into the matter of the CMD's extension. The law officer assured the bench that ACC will convene soon and in all likelihood decide the matter in six weeks.
The PIL filed by one Ramakant Dixit alleges that Rana's appointment is illegal since he applied for the post under "government category" even though only an additional secretary level officer is eligible under this category while Rana was much lower in rank. It further accuses the CMD of being involved in several cases of illegal procurement causing loss to the public exchequer and compromising with the economic security of the country.
http://ift.tt/1neOADT High Court,Appointments Committee of Cabinet
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