Retired bureaucrat Sanjay Kothari was appointed as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) on Saturday.
“At a ceremony held today at 1030 hrs at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Shri Sanjay Kothari was sworn in as The Central Vigilance Commissioner. He made and subscribed of this office before the President”, an official communique said.
Strict physical distancing norms were noticed in the seating arrangements, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice- President M Venkaiah Naidu amongst others. President Ram Nath Kovind was also seen wearing a mask.
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Congress Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Choudhary protested against the appointment and pointed out at the matter of conflict interest as it the President who is the appointing authority and the officer had previously served as the Secretary to the President.
The search committee which also had Prime Minister and Union Home Minister had over ruled these objections.
The appointment had been notified earlier. However, he assumed office only today as the government was looking for his replacement to the post of Secretary to the President.
After the government appointed KD Tripathi who is a retired IAS officer of the Assam- Meghalaya cadre, as the Press Secretary on April 20, this appointment could go ahead.
Sanjay Kothari is a 1978 batch IAS Officer of the Haryana cadre. He had earlier served as the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training.
Established on the recommendations of the Santhanam Committee Report in 1964, the CVC is a statutory body set up to inquire into acts of corruption.