1-year extension for IB, RAW chiefs; J&K chief secretary shifted to Delhi

NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday announced a year’s extension for Intelligence Bureau director Arvinda Kumar and RAW chief Samant Kumar Goel, making way for continuity at the helm of its intelligence apparatus. The two-year fixed term of both the officers was due to end on June 30, 2021, but now stands extended to June 30, 2022.
In another important move, the government replaced Jammu & Kashmir chief secretary B V R Subrahmanyam with Arun Kumar Mehta, currently finance commissioner in the J&K department of finance.Subrahmanyam, the Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer believed to have been handpicked by the prime minister three years ago to head the bureaucracy in J&K, had seen the erstwhile state through crucial phases such as President’s rule, abrogation of Article 370 and its reorganization into Union territory. He was on Thursday appointed as OSD in the department of commerce here and will take over as commerce secretary upon the superannuation of incumbent Anup Wadhawan on June 30, 2021.
The extension for Kumar, a 1984 batch IPS officer from Assam-Meghalaya cadre, and Goel, a Punjab-cadre IPS officer from the same batch, was given in relaxation of FR 56(J) and Rule 16(1A) of All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rule, 1958. Both the officers enjoy a good rapport with NSA Ajit Doval. While the line of succession in IB is not quite affected by Kumar’s extended term, a couple of senior officers in RAW will retire before the end of Goel’s extended term.
The one-year extension for Kumar and Goel is particularly interesting as it comes just after senior IPS officers like Rakesh Asthana and Y C Modi were left out of the race for CBI director’s post when Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, citing a March 2019 ruling of the Supreme Court, insisted on considering only officers with a minimum six-month remainder service. The high-powered selection committee comprising the Prime minister, CJI and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha finally cleared a panel of three seniormost officers with more than six months of remaining service. Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, one of the 3 officers in the panel, has been appointed as CBI director.
There was some speculation about ramifications of the six-month rule applied in the CBI director’s choice, for other DG-level appointments at the Centre, particularly those with fixed-term like DIB and RAW chief. Official sources had however told TOI that the SC ruling of 2019 pertained only to state DGP appointments.
Incidentally, Thursday’s decision on Kumar and Goel is merely a case of extension and not fresh appointments.
Earlier in 2018, the government had granted a six-month extension to then DIB Rajiv Jain and RAW chief Anil Dhasmana, but that was linked to the approaching Lok Sabha poll in April-May 2019.