Home Ministry 'reconsiders' role for AK Patnaik, MMS' son-in-law

NEW DELHI: Setting tongues wagging in the security establishment, the Home Ministry has withdrawn a proposal from the Appointments Committee of Cabinet regarding a post for IPS officer AK Patnaik who is serving as NATGRID CEO. Patnaik is the son-in-law of the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Home Ministry officials refused to reveal what the proposal was. An order put up on the DoPT website on Wednesday evening about the withdrawal of the proposal from ACC, was later removed from the website.

The order, dated December 6 said: “Home Secretary has informed that the ministry would like to reconsider its proposal. The undersigned is therefore, directed to return the proposal for reconsideration.”

It was marked to the Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi. Interestingly, Patnaik, a 1983 batch IPS officer of the Gujarat cadre, was appointed as CEO, NATGRID by the PM-led ACC on July 13. On November 6, Patnaik was granted the rank of Special DG in the apex pay scale of `75,500-80,000 on November 4.

The government is in the process of selecting the next director of IB.