JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir’s first State Vigilance Commission (SVC) got functional on Friday with the appointment of Kuldeep Khoda as the Chief Vigilance Commissioner and RK Jerath as Vigilance Commissioner.
Governor NN Vohra administered the oath of office to Khoda and Jerath at a function held at the Raj Bhavan, here, on Friday evening.
Both, Khoda, a former Director General of Police, J&K, and Jerath, a senior IAS officer, retired last year.
After the oath-taking ceremony, Khoda drove straight to his office and took charge of the SVC.
Khoda and Jerath shall hold the office for a term of four years from the date of their joining or till they reach the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier, an official said.
It was nearly two years ago that the state legislature had approved a Bill for setting up of the SVC in Jammu and Kashmir. The SVC Act came in force in 2011.
However, the government started the process of appointment of CVC and VCs on February 5, 2012, following the issuance of guidelines for the appointments.
A high-level committee had approved the appointment of Khoda as the CVC and Jerath as the VC during a meeting on May 28 last year.
However, Leader of Opposition Mehbooba Mufti, who was one of the members of the selection panel, had objected to Khoda’s appointment and submitted a dissenting note, sources said.
The government had incorporated the note along with its recommendation to the Governor for making the appointments.
The recommendations were forwarded to Vohra on June 4 last year.
But on the basis of Mehbooba’s note, the Raj Bhawan returned the file to the government on June 15, raising some queries about Khoda. The government replied, giving a clean chit to Khoda.
Apart from Mufti, the selection panel comprised Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, the then Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ali Mohammad Sagar and Leader of Opposition Mehbooba Mufti.
(PTI)
