Pradeep Kumar takes oath as new CVC

New Delhi: Former Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar was today sworn-in as the new Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). He replaces PJ Thomas whose appointment was struck down by the Supreme Court in March. President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office to 62-year-old Kumar, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, at a brief function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. [caption id=“attachment_41381” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“President Pratibha Patil administered the oath of office to 62-year-old Kumar. Reuters”] [/caption] Vice President Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, Minister of State for Department of Personnel and Training V Narayansamy and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj were among those present at the swearing-in ceremony lasted for about 10 minutes. The Supreme Court had on 3 March quashed the appointment of Thomas citing a pending charge sheet in a corruption case against him in Kerala. Since then, the post has been lying vacant. Kumar was chosen for the CVC’s post unanimously by a panel comprising the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Swaraj about a fortnight ago. He will have a tenure of a little over three years. PTI