Within right to appoint ex-CBI chief as guv: Govt

Under Bharatiya Janata Party's attack over appointing former Central Bureau of Investigation Director Ashwani Kumar as Governor of Nagaland, the government on Monday said it was within its right to do so for which there have been precedents.

“It is well within the right of the government to appoint a governor and there is nothing wrong about the appointment of Ashwani Kumar. There have been past precedents when former IPS or IAS officers or former army chiefs were appointed as governors," Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters.

62-year-old Kumar, who was the director of the agency from August 2008 to November 2010, is the first head of CBI to be appointed as a governor.

The home minister brushed aside the remark of opposition BJP saying it was the decision of the government and there was nothing wrong in that.

Asked whether the appointment of Kumar as governor would entice other serving officers as well, Shinde said "sab ko desh seva karne ka mauka milna chahiye (everyone should be allowed to work for the nation)."

Minister of State in the PMO V Narayanasamy said Kumar had retired from the service two years ago.

"He has been appointed as a governor because there is no bar under any law for appointing a retired officer as a governor," he said and added people from the fields of politics, police and administrative services had been appointed in the past well.

Image: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde