Congress sees pattern in Centre’s ad hoc appointments

NEW DELHI: Congress accused Modi government of appointing favourites to top posts of investigating agencies on Saturday, calling the controversy over CBI director as part of a pattern —a remark that hints at the party’s suspicion that the renewed focus on scams during the UPA tenure is driven by political motives.
As the Supreme Court turned the heat on the Centre over picking an ad hoc CBI director instead of a full time replacement, AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said there was an ulterior motive behind the practice that was commonplace in NDA regime.
“The present director general of NIA, Sharad Kumar, appointed in 2013, was due for retirement on November 5, 2015, and the NDA government decided to re-employ him on contract basis for one more year. Surprisingly, the process was repeated again this year whereby he would continue as director for one more year,” he said.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has objected to not being consulted in naming Asthana as the CBI director even as the arrest of former IAF chief S P Tyagi in the AugustaWestland chopper case put the spotlight on UPA era scams. Singhvi said the Centre appointed Karnal Singh as director of the enforcement directorate on ad hoc basis. “The initial ad hoc arrangement was to subsist for three months. However, this arrangement subsisted for more than a year and in February 2016, he was given a third extension for six months,” he said, adding there was uncertainty over the next Army chief.
The questioning of the CBI appointment comes amid arrests made in AgustaWestland chopper scam, a case that dates back to UPA regime. Congressmen see a link between the resurfacing of chopper deal and new ad hoc CBI chief.