Law Secretary Suresh Chandra had a quiet career — until his name got embroiled in CBI mess

Suresh Chandra | By special arrangement

In his plea filed in the Supreme Court, CBI DIG Manish Kumar Sinha accuses Suresh Chandra of impropriety.

New Delhi: Suresh Chandra had had a quiet, unremarkable career in the Ministry of Law and Justice until he was appointed law secretary by the Narendra Modi government in June 2016.

On Monday, however, Chandra was cast in unwanted spotlight after Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) deputy inspector general Manish Kumar Sinha’s referred to him in his application in the Supreme Court.

In his plea, Sinha alleged that Chandra spoke to controversial businessman Satish Sana, accused in the Moin Qureshi case, and tried to get him to work as per the government’s plan.

“Additionally, the Applicant became aware that while the proceedings were going on in the CVC against the Petitioner herein – Shri Alok Verma, the Union Law Secretary Shri Suresh Chandra waded in to the issue. On 8.11.2018, the office of Shri Sana was repeatedly approached by one Ms. Rekha Rani, IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh Cadre, claiming that the Union Law Secretary, who is in London, wants to speak to Shri Sana. The London number of the Union Law Secretary was communicated. Shri Sana spoke to him on Whatsapp on the evening of 08.11.2018,” said the plea.

It also claimed that Chandra assured Sana “that all his future problems will be taken care of.”

Chandra has reportedly denied the allegation.

He couldn’t be reached for a comment. This report will be updated when he responds.

Appointment

When he was appointed Law Secretary, Chandra was not even in the reckoning — the Modi government had advertised the post and had received 45-odd applications from across the country, including those from serving sessions judges.

As per the criteria laid down, Chandra was not eligible for the post. It was only at a later stage that the senior functionaries of the Law Ministry were also allowed to apply.

However, in appointing him, the government overlooked two senior officers.
Chandra, who was Private Secretary to Arun Jaitley when he was law minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government between 2002 and 2004, is scheduled to retire at the end of this month.

But, there is already talk that he is trying to land a post-retirement job.

A few weeks, ago, there was a minor controversy after Chandra shared stage with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) office bearer Indresh Kumar at the launch of a coffee table book on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.