Two Horses Pull a Seven Horse Chariot, Only 2 Members Remain in CBEC

- Arun Goyal –

As of now, CBEC has just two members who too are at the very end of their service. Board Chairman Mr. Kaushal Srivastava is due to retire after four months. Ms. Joy Chander the other Member leaves after two months. Five posts are vacant with a series of retirements in the last one year.

The problem behind the empty posts in Board is that PM Modi has arrogated appointment powers in the Board to the Committee of Secretaries (CoS). This selection authority consists of two Secretaries from PMO, and one Secretary each from DoPT, Home and Revenue, apart from the Cabinet Secretary himself. Thus the parent department of revenue has just one person and has little voice in the Committee of six. Normally the CoS should go by the advice of the Revenue Secretary who should go by seniority subject to fitness. But the Modi Government operates on whims and fancies instead of principles hence the stalemate.

Najib Shah, the current DG of Revenue Intelligence is the problem. He is waiting for elevation to the Board in North Block from his seat in the Drum Shape Building at ITO in New Delhi for the last one year. He has a little less than two years to go before retirement. Besides the current high profile posting, he has a stellar background as Chief Commissioner of Customs at Delhi and also Drawback Director where he was known for fairness.

It is whispered that the BJP led Government does not want a Muslim at the top in the CBEC! Deepa Dasgupta, a day senior to Najib Shah but due to retire in Sept 2015 is the first on the list for the Board but she too is in the waiting room because Najib Shah should not make it to North Block.

The CoS has already superseded two officers of the 1979 batch claiming that they have only nine outstanding reports out of 10 from their seniors. It is reported that Mr. Najib Shah’s wife Neerja Shah was one of the two superseded. The IRS Officers Association protested to Finance Minister Jaitley on these supersession. The Minister responded with an assurance to reconsider the supersession.

The motivation of revenue officers is at an all-time low. The promotion chain is not moving, merit is at a discount. The system is surviving only on creating new posts at the middle level but the movement at the top is stuck.

The show can go on like this for another two months. By that time, the Government must decide on Najib Shah entry into the Board