A high-level selection committee has recommended additional director general of police (law and order) Muneer Ahmad Khan for the post of information commissioner in the State Information Commission, and commissioner secretary general administration department Hilal Ahmad Parrey as vigilance commissioner in the State Vigilance Commission.
Highly placed sources told Greater Kashmir that the panel headed by K Vijay Kumar met at Jammu on Wednesday morning to finalise the recommendations for appointing members in various statutory bodies.
Advisors Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, K Skanandan and Kewal Kumar Sharma, and secretary BVR Subrahmanyam are also part of the selection panel.
Muneer Khan will be retiring in June this year. A noted police officer, Khan has served at key positions during the past 35 years. Khan, a direct recruit KPS officer of 1984 batch, was inducted into IPS in 1994.
He has served at different positions including SSP Baramulla, SSP Anantnag, SSP Srinagar and SSP Doda.
After his promotion as DIG, he was posted as DIG south Kashmir range, DIG central Kashmir range and DIG north Kashmir range. He has also served as IGP Kashmir, IGP Crime, IGP Traffic and director vigilance organisation.
Khan was promoted as ADGP in December 2017 but was asked to continue as IGP Kashmir for some time.
The selection panel also recommended Hilal Ahmad Parrey, who is attaining superannuation in March this year, as member of the SVC.
The anti-graft body is at present without one member, as former governor NN Vohra had rejected the recommendation made by the previous PDP-BJP coalition to fill the vacancy.
The source also disclosed that selection panel recommended Baseer Ahmad Khan, divisional commissioner Kashmir, as ombudsman of municipal bodies.
“The panel also finalised the name of KB Aggarwal for a vital position in one of the statutory bodies,” he said. Aggarwal had retired on January 31.
A senior official, wishing not to be named, confirmed that selection panel has finalised the recommendations for filling these prized positions.
“These recommendations would now be processed by the general administration department and sent to governor after getting clearances of the recommendees from Vigilance and other organisations,” he said.
The governor happens to be appointing authority for these positions.
The official, however, said they have no idea when these appointments would come into effect.
After imposition of governor’s rule, the state authorities had amended the laws governing SIC, SVC and ombudsmen to facilitate appointments of heads and members of these bodies whenever the state is without an elected government.