Two in running for commerce secretary post

Fertilizer Secretary Nripendra Misra and Textiles Secretary SB Mohapatra are the front runners for appointment as the commerce secretary, after Dipak Chatterjee takes over as the chairman of the Competition Commission of India, which was formally constituted on Tuesday.

Government sources said Chatterjee, a 1966 batch IAS officer from the West Bengal cadre, was expected to take over as the first CCI chairman towards the end of the month. VK Dhall, a former secretary in the Department of Company Affairs, at present posted as officer on special duty in the CCI, will be the vice chairman, handling administration matters.

Chatterjee was originally scheduled to take over as the CCI chairman at the end of the World Trade Organisation's ministerial meeting in Cancun last month. A public interest litigation, challenging the CCI appointment process, was filed in the Madras high court recently.

The decision on the appointment of a new commerce secretary is expected to be taken after Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitley returns from China later this week. The sources, however, said Jaitley did not have any preferences and the decision would be taken at the level of the cabinet secretary and the prime minister's office.

Both Mohapatra and Misra, who belong to the 1967 batch, have served in the commerce ministry. While Mohapatra's last assignment in the ministry was as director general of foreign trade, Misra served as special secretary, in-charge of WTO matters, till 2001.

Misra belongs to the UP cadre, while Mohapatra to the Orissa cadre. The Competition Act, 2002 provides for the appointment of 10 members and a chairman, who will be experts from various fields.

The selection committee, headed by Jaitley, is scouting for members with experience in banking, law and economics.

The CCI would be responsible for preventing any kind practice, which could endanger the competitiveness of the country. It would take up competition advocacy in the first year of operation and prohibition of anti-competitive practices and regulation of mergers in the next two years.

It would also take over the functions of the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission.