Cithara Paul By

NEW DELHI: It is not just leisurely lunches at Delhi Gymkhana or afternoon golf practices at Golf Club or frequent foreign trips that Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers are forced to give up under the vigilant eyes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The IAS lobby is set to lose a much coveted post-retirement position which they have been holding for ages—the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) of the country—as Modi is determined to choose merit over precedence.

The Modi Government is likely to appoint Kosaraju Veeraiah Chowdary, a former Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer with a proven track record, as the CVC. The post has been lying vacant since Pradeep Kumar retired. If it happens, then the government would be creating history—for the first time that a non-IAS officer would be appointed to one of the top posts.

Chowdary, a 1979 batch IRS officer, had retired as the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). He has headed many high-profile income tax probes, including that of the 2G spectrum allocation case and the HSBC Geneva taxpayers’ list.

According to a source in the Cabinet Secretariat, the decision was taken last month after Modi met Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha. He also said the recommendation has already been sent to the President’s office. The delay in formal announcement, the official said, is due to some technical reasons. “Kosaraju’s name is final,” said the source.

The proposal has created more bad blood between the IAS and IRS, which never had any love lost between them. Understandably, the IRS Association is quite upbeat and enthusiastic about this unprecedented move.

“An IRS or an IPS officer is best suitable for the posts of CVC or VC than an IAS officer as the former’s job profile matches the job of CVC. Moreover, IRS officers have better knowledge about finance, budget, accounting, administration, audit, taxation, vigilance, etc. An IAS officer is least suited to be a CVC as an IAS officer has the highest opportunity to be corrupt being the spenders of the income earned by the IRS for the government,” said P Satya Prasanth, a Hyderabad-based IRS officer.

He also alleged that there is an informal understanding between the IAS and IPS lobbies that the CVC will always be from the IAS, one VC from the IPS and another VC a retired CMD of a public sector bank. According to him, the Modi government is now changing this arrangement and is considering merit as the only criterion for selection.

The IAS lobby, however, is desperately trying to scuttle this “history-making moment”. According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the IAS officers have already made their case before the PMO through individual representations. The Association also plans to make a joint representation, staking claim to the post traditionally held by retired IAS officers.

“The CVC post is one of the highest offices in the country and it is only natural that the post goes to some with an IAS background. It has been so, ever since the post was created. What is the urgency to change the precedence?” asked an IAS officer, holding a senior post at the Ministry of Finance.

The IRS Association alleges that the IAS lobby is planting stories against Chowdary to scuttle his chances as CVC. “They are playing all dirty tricks in Delhi. They have planted stories against Chowdary in media. They are feeding wrong information to the likes of Prashant Bhushan and Ram Jethmalani to discredit Chowdary,” said an IRS officer.

If the sources at the PMO are to be believed, the IAS lobby is going to lose its battle this time.

According to PMO sources, Modi is quite keen on Chowdary as he has proven his mettle as an efficient officer and the government had chosen him for the post of an Advisor to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing black money cases immediately after his retirement as the CBDT chief.

The tussle between the IAS and the IRS is nothing new.

The IRS Association, the most active among the non-IAS/IFS spectrum of civil services, had recently locked horns with the IAS Association demanding pay parity with the IAS officers as the 7th Pay Commission is examining a pay revision that may come into effect from April 1, 2016. The IRS Association had argued that all of them have cleared the same competitive examination and hence should be given the same pay. But IAS Association had countered this saying that “they are indeed the best as they are the toppers in the UPSC exam.”

While it is yet to be clear whether both the IAS and IRS officers are equals when it comes to pay packet, the fight has moved on and for the post of the CVC this time.