Appointment of the Chairman of Public Service Commission in the State and six members of the Commission is usually recommended by the State Government. The members of constitutional body hold office for five years. Under the provisions of the constitution, though recommendation for appointment is made by the Government yet the final assent lies with the Governor of the State. The State Government had proposed the name of six members and the Chairman according to the criterion laid down for these appointments.
The Governor using his constitutional powers has raised some queries and returned the file along with the queries raised. The Government is now required to prepare response to the queries and re-submit the file to the Governor. But taking into account the nature of queries, it appears that the file may not return that soon to the Governor. It will not be returned at least before the elections to assembly scheduled for 25 November commence. This means that only the new Government that will hold office will decide whether the names proposed should continue to stand or not. There is every possibility that this panel may not remain intact.
There are some important technical issues that the Governor has raised. The communication from Raj Bhavan makes it amply clear that antecedents and vigilance clearance of the proposed names should be declared and made known to authorities. These are very responsible positions and nobody with tainted history is to be allowed to hold the crucial office. Only the Vigilance Department can certify their antecedents. The Government may have satisfied itself but the Governor has the moral duty to convince himself about the worthiness of the names proposed to him. Apart from integrity certificate the proposed members are also required to be professionally, educationally and technically sound and fit to render the type of service they are called upon to render. The Commission has tremendous responsibility of providing efficient and honest hands to fill positions in various departments of the administration. They are required to make the selection of the best among the lot. The people should have no reason to doubt the integrity of any of the member of the Commission and its Chairman.
There is one more negative aspect infringing the approval of the Governor. It is reported that the coalition partners in the Government namely NC and Congress have been reported to be claiming to have nominated their respective candidates as members of the PSC and that they have maintained parity by proposing three members from each party. In other words, if this is true, then it is evident that politics has a role in the selection of the members of the PSC. Though, according to the provisions of the Constitution the members and the Chairman are required to be above politics and political parties, yet a rumour spreading around shows that the appointments are made on political affiliation. This defeats the very purpose of impartiality of the Commission. Since members have been sponsored or are supported by ruling coalition of two or more parties, their verdict cannot be without bias and influence from party whip.
We appreciate the action of the Governor in returning the file with certain queries and clarifications that Government has to provide. We know that it means delaying the appointment of members of the Commission, yet it is unavoidable.
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