Objections to IAS officer’s appointment as home secy

The Home ministry has objected to the appointment of an IAS officer, whose premises were raided by the CBI last July, as the Capital’s home secretary and called for his ouster from the post.

The Home ministry has objected to the appointment of an IAS officer, whose premises were raided by the CBI last July, as the Capital’s home secretary and called for his ouster from the post.

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BV Selvaraj, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1981 batch, was appointed principal secretary of home department in January, less than seven months after he came under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

In July last year, the CBI had raided Selvaraj’s residential and official premises in a corruption case related to his stint as the administrator of Lakshadweep in 2006-2009. A CBI spokesman had then alleged that Selvaraj had conspired to wrongly award a contract to supply river sand and granite chips from the mainland to the islands of Lakshadweep.

Meanwhile, Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta has said the officer was appointed since the CBI had not filed a chargesheet against him, a suggestion that there was nothing on record against him.

But the argument did not cut any ice with the ministry, which has called for moving Selvaraj out of the home department.
“The home secretary’s post is too a sensitive to go by official records alone,” a senior government official said.

The Delhi home secretary plays a key role in sensitive matters related to security, including powers to authorise interception of phone calls of citizens, appointment of officers in Delhi Police, prison officials and the anti-corruption bureau.

A Home ministry official said they were not consulted before Selvaraj’s appointment.