The Defence Secretary, Mr Pradeep Kumar, will take over tomorrow as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner, the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, which has been headless for the past four months after the Supreme Court struck down the appointment of Mr P.J. Thomas.
The 62-year-old Mr Kumar will be sworn in as the new CVC by the President, Ms Pratibha Patil, at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Mr Kumar, a 1972 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, was chosen for the CVC’s post unanimously by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, the Home Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Ms Sushma Swaraj, a fortnight ago.
He will have a tenure of a little over three years.
The post of CVC fell vacant after the apex court quashed the appointment of Mr Thomas as a charge-sheet was pending against him in a corruption case.