Five Senior Officers Shortlisted for CBIC Member Post; Interviews Set for December 30
Five senior officers, Mayank Kumar, Arti A Srinivas, Shailendra Kumar Singh, Abhai Kumar Srivastava, and S K Vimalanathan, have been shortlisted for the post of Member, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, with interviews scheduled for December 30, 2025.
CBIC Member appointments follow a structured selection process that typically begins with shortlisting eligible senior officers from the Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) based on seniority and service record, followed by a formal interview stage before a final recommendation is forwarded to the Department of Revenue and the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for clearance.
The five shortlisted officers represent a cross-section of the IRS (Customs and Central Excise) cadre's senior-most eligible pool, and the interview panel's eventual recommendation will determine who fills the specific vacancy that has opened on the board, with CBIC Members typically overseeing distinct functional zones such as GST policy, customs enforcement, administration, or investigation once appointed.
The selection process is being closely watched within tax administration circles given CBIC's central role in indirect tax policy, spanning GST implementation, customs facilitation and enforcement, and excise duty administration, making board-level appointments consequential for the direction of enforcement priorities and policy interpretation the board sets for field formations nationwide.
CBIC board vacancies typically arise from the retirement or promotion of sitting members, with the selection and interview process usually timed to ensure continuity, minimising the gap between an outgoing member's departure and a successor formally taking charge of the vacated portfolio.
The interview outcome and subsequent formal appointment are expected to be notified by the Department of Revenue following the completion of the December 30 interview process and the standard clearance procedure that follows.
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs functions as the apex administrative body overseeing GST implementation, customs operations, and central excise administration, structured with a Chairman and a set of Members each holding charge of a specific functional area, and reporting to the Department of Revenue within the Ministry of Finance. Officers considered for Member-level positions are typically drawn from the Indian Revenue Service's Customs and Central Excise cadre, given the specialised knowledge of indirect tax law, customs procedure, and enforcement operations the role requires, with seniority within the cadre forming the primary eligibility criterion for shortlisting.
The interview process for CBIC Member appointments is conducted by a selection panel that assesses shortlisted officers before forwarding its recommendation to the Department of Revenue, which in turn seeks clearance from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, the final approving authority for appointments at this level across the central government. CBIC's board-level composition directly shapes enforcement priorities and policy interpretation communicated to field formations nationwide, making the specific functional charge eventually assigned to the selected officer, whether spanning GST policy, customs enforcement, or investigation, a matter of continued interest within the indirect tax administration community once the appointment is finalised.
