Appointment of Sambit Patra, Shashi Shanker to ONGC board challenged in the Delhi HC

Energy Watchdog has filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court seeking cancellation of the appointments of Shashi Shanker and Sambit Patra as the Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) and the Non-Official Director (NOD) respectively of India’s biggest oil and gas producer, Oil and Natural Gas Company (ONGC)..Shanker was earlier serving as the Director (technical and field services) at ONGC, while Patra is a surgeon and the National Spokesperson of the BJP..The petition, filed through Advocate Prashant Bhushan, states that Shanker has a tainted past, with the Vigilance Division of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas having suspended him for gross misconduct in 2015..It was also stated that the petitioner had lodged complaints with the central government as well as the Prime Minister stating that the appointment of Shankar is contrary to the public interest. It states,.“…an officer who was suspended in a tender matter should not be heading an organization which has to deal with Rs 29,000 crore budget in the current financial year, and about Rs 150,000 crore in the next five years.”.Regarding Sambit Patra, the petition states that he is the official National Spokesperson of the ruling party BJP at the Centre and is very active in day-to-day politics..“He can be seen almost daily on television screens defending his party’s/ Government’s position on various matters. As such he cannot play the role of an Independent Director being “related to promoters”, which is in violation of Section 149(6) of The Companies Act 2013.. His selection process is also flawed as his name did not appear in the Data Bank of eligible persons willing to act as Independent Directors as required to be prepared for the purpose as per Section 150 of the Companies Act, 2013. Moreover, State largesse cannot be passed on to a private political person in this manner.”.It is argued in the petition that,.“The impugned appointments are completely arbitrary, unreasonable, mala fide and in violation of Articles 14 & 21 of the Constitution of India. The impugned appointments are also in violation of the principles of ‘institutional integrity’ and ‘impeccable integrity’.”.The matter will be heard on November 1..Image taken from here..Read Petition:.Click here to download the Bar & Bench Android App