Who can be appointed as PO

6. Who can be appointed as PO? Rule 14(5) (C) provides that either a Government servant or a Legal Practioner may be appointed as Presenting Officer. Thus the choice is limited to either one of the two explicitly stated categories. Para 24.1 of Chapter X of the Vigilance Manual (1991 Ed) provides that An officer who made the preliminary investigation or inquiry into the case should not be appointed as Presenting Officer. [The Group of Ministers which considered the recommendations in the Hota Committee Report has made the following recommendations in this regard: “10. After comprehensive discussions, the GoM decided that the Departments/Ministries should primarily use serving officers as IOs & POs and in important cases, they may request CVC to appoint their CDI as IO. The CVC may also maintain a panel of IOs/POs from amongst retired officers after due process of screening and empanelment. These officers could also be engaged on advice of the CVC. The remuneration etc. for these IOs and POs may be fixed, keeping in mind the recommendations of the Hota Committee.” Formal instructions in this matter are yet to be issued at the time of publication of this handbook]