S M Pathakkam Assigned Additional Charge of CVO, HAL

Sarvanan Mannai Pathakkam, Chief Vigilance Officer of Bharat Electronics Limited, Bengaluru, has been entrusted with the additional charge of Chief Vigilance Officer at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, also based in Bengaluru.

The CVO's post at HAL is a Central Vigilance Commission-mandated position responsible for monitoring procurement processes and internal probity at India's largest defence aerospace manufacturer, which produces fighter aircraft, helicopters and aero-engines for the armed forces.

Pathakkam is a 2000-batch officer of the Indian Postal Service, and currently holds the substantive charge of CVO at Bharat Electronics, a defence electronics PSU also headquartered in Bengaluru — placing both organisations under his vigilance oversight for the duration of the additional charge.

His appointment to the dual role reflects the practice of drawing CVOs from outside an organisation's own cadre, a CVC requirement intended to keep vigilance oversight independent of the institution being monitored.

HAL has expanded its production lines in recent years to meet rising indigenous fighter aircraft and helicopter orders, including the Tejas programme, increasing the scale of procurement activity that falls under vigilance scrutiny.

As CVO, Pathakkam will be responsible for reviewing HAL's vendor contracts and internal complaints alongside his existing responsibilities at BEL, a workload that vigilance officers holding dual charge typically manage by prioritising flagged or high-value cases.

The additional charge arrangement does not have a specified end date in the order, and is expected to continue until a regular CVO is appointed for HAL.