CAT cancels BrahMos CEO pick, tells MoD to rethink candidate
Big move from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT): they've scrapped Dr. Jaiteerth R Joshi's appointment as Director General (DG) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BrahMos Aerospace and told the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to reconsider Dr. Sivasubramaniam Nambi Naidu for the top job.
In its order passed on Monday, giving officials four weeks to review.
Why does this matter?
BrahMos Aerospace is a major name in India's defense exports, so who leads it really counts.
The tribunal called out DRDO's selection process as "arbitrary" and lacking solid reasoning—especially since Naidu actually holds a higher rank than Joshi but was still passed over.
Who are these scientists?
Naidu currently heads DRDO's Centre for Advanced Systems and holds the Distinguished Scientist title (Level-16).
Joshi, meanwhile, is an Outstanding Scientist at Level-15.
Usually, top posts like this go to Distinguished Scientists if one's available.
What happens next?
The tribunal said MoD and DRDO need to pick an interim boss for now—but not Joshi—while they sort things out.
Overall, the message is clear: big appointments like this deserve transparency and fairness.