Appointments to important offices

Appointments to important offices

Subject: Polity

Section: National

Context:

The tenures of three high- profile offices — the Union Home Secretary; Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB); and Secretary, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) — are ending in the next few months.

Process of appointment and tenure of services:

• They generally have two-year fixed terms.
• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved their appointments.
• According to the Fundamental Rules, 1922 that govern the appointment and tenures of all government servants, the posts of Union Home Secretary; Director, IB; and Secretary, RAW can be extended by up to two years beyond the two-year fixed tenure in “public interest”.
• A Supreme Court ruling in 2017 had fixed a two- year term for Director, ED but the new appointment rules under the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003 (Rule 45 of 2003) relaxed the tenure limit to up to five years.
• The amendment is also applicable to the Director, CBI’s post, extending the fixed two-year tenure to up to five years under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Rule 25 of 1946).The Director of CBI is to hold the post for not less than two years as held by the Vineet Narain judgment of 1998.