With Pillai out of the count, defence secretary Pradeep Kumar, former finance secretary Ashok Chawla, secretary chemical and fertilizers Bijoy Chatterjee and former development secretary M Ramachandran are said to be the probables. Pradeep Kumar is to retire next month as defence secretary. Pillai has already communicated to the government that he wanted to retire after his term.
The new CVC will be appointed by a three-member committee that includes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
The CVC’s post had fallen vacant after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of Thomas.
Following the controversy, the apex court gave out a set of fresh guidelines that included widening the choice beyond bureaucracy.
Published 28 June 2011, 19:02 IST