Prasar Bharati CEO Lalli Singh's post at stake

The speculation of the hour is that present Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli may be shown the door of his office as the President Pratibha Patil has given her consent to remove him when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had sought the Presidential reference on the demands of removal of Lalli.

A 1971 batch IAS officer, Lalli took over the office of CEO in December 2006 and is indicted by Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) which has accused him for breach of Parliamentary privilege, giving undue favours to some broadcast companies and financial mismanagement.

The board had also criticised Lalli’s working style, accusing him of not following procedures. Things had come to such a pass that it passed an order stripping Lalli of all financial powers.

The decision to take action against Lalli had been in the pipeline for a while, but given the autonomous status of the Prasar Bharati board, the government was finding it hard to rein him in.

However, as per Prasar Bharati Act, the CEO can only be removed after a presidential reference to the Supreme Court, which orders an inquiry. Also, the Prasar Bharati CEO is appointed by a high-power panel, which includes the Prime Minister, the Rajya Sabha Chairman and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

His alleged tainted image surfaced when a 246-crore broadcast rights deal for the Commonwealth Games 2010 was allegedly riddled with problems – the company that won the contract, SIS Live, had not met the required tax registration formalities; banking and other documents are being studied for discrepancies. Lalli is accused of allowing this without getting the required sanctions from the I&B Ministry.

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