NCL CMD Selection: Controversy Refuses to Die – Who Pulled the Strings?
Who stopped the first NCL CMD interview - and why was the shortlist changed when the process was restarted?
Sources have told IndianPSU.com that a top executive of Coal India Limited was trying to secure the NCL CMD post for a director considered close to him.
According to these sources, the executive’s preferred candidate did not figure in the original list of 10 shortlisted candidates. Sources allege that the senior executive then worked behind the scenes to get the scheduled interview cancelled, with the aim of creating an opportunity for his preferred candidate to enter the race.
The interview was subsequently cancelled.
When PESB issued the revised notification, the shortlist had changed. The number of candidates increased from 10 to 12, with two names added and two candidates from the original list removed.
Sources specifically claim that the revised process enabled the executive’s preferred candidate to enter the shortlist.
When the story changed the equation
IndianPSU.com had already questioned the unexplained cancellation of the first interview and the subsequent alteration of the shortlist.
According to sources familiar with the developments, the publication of the story brought the alleged manoeuvring under greater scrutiny and made it difficult for the plan to proceed as originally envisaged.
Sources further claim that the intervention ultimately failed to deliver the outcome that the Coal India executive had allegedly sought.
The issue is the process
The documented sequence is straightforward:
10 candidates shortlisted → interview cancelled → shortlist revised → 12 candidates considered.
The allegation is more specific: sources claim that the cancellation and subsequent revision were driven, at least in part, by an effort to accommodate a preferred candidate.
That allegation has not been independently established by IndianPSU.com. However, the sequence of the cancellation and the material change in the shortlist makes the circumstances worthy of scrutiny.
Editor’s Take
The NCL CMD appointment is now a settled matter.
What remains unresolved is the reason for the intervention between the original and revised selection processes.
If the sources’ account is correct, the episode raises serious questions about the influence that senior executives may exercise over appointments to key posts in Coal India subsidiaries.
The documentary trail should establish who sought the cancellation, why the original shortlist was reopened and what led to the changes in the candidate list.
