The Prime Minister-led selection committee had cleared the appointment of P Vashishta as Vigilance Commissioner at CVC, which coincided with the selection of Chief Information Commissioner and eight other ICs at Central Information Commission (CIC).

Vashista, as joint secretary and then additional secretary in charge of Left Wing Extremism Division of the Home Ministry, has been instrumental in planning a decisive security offensive against Maoists in what were once their pocket boroughs, while also pushing development and the Centre's key flagship initiatives in regions freed from Naxals' influence over the past few years. In 2024, he was upgraded to the post of Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Though the committee met last month to finalize the Chief Information Commissioner and eight other ICs, sources indicate the appointment of P Vashishtha as Vigilance Commissioner at CVC was part of the same agenda. As one senior bureaucrat put it, the significant news of the selection of the Chief IC and ICs at CIC effectively eclipsed the news of Praveen Vashista as VC at CVC.