The Selection Committee will soon finalise and announce who the new Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) Director will be.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India (CJI,) and Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress (INC,) constitute the Committee.
The Committee held a meeting, on the 1st of February, to decide who the new CBI Director will be. The meeting, conducted at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, was inconclusive. A senior government official said, “The meeting was inconclusive. No decision could be taken during the meeting.”
The PM Modi led panel shortlisted 3 names, out of which one will be finalised as the CBI Director.
The shortlisted candidates are senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers Javeed Ahmed, Rajni Kant Misra and S.S. Deswal.
Javeed Ahmed is a Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS Officer of the 1984 batch. He is currently working as the chief of National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences in the State.
Rajni Kant Misra is the Head of the Border Security Force (BSF) and a Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer of 1984 batch.
S.S. Deswal is the Director General of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and a Haryana cadre IPS officer of the 1984 batch.
Although Mallikarjun Kharge opposed the selection of the proposed contenders, the Selection Committee sent the names of the three final candidates to the Appointments Cabinet Committee (ACC.) The ACC is likely to announce the new CBI Director on the 2nd of February.
Addressing the delay in the selection of the CBI Director, the Supreme Court (SC) asked K.K. Venugopal, the Attorney General, “Why have you not appointed regular director?” The SC further said, “An interim director can continue for seven or ten days but not for so long.”
The Central Government appointed M. Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI Director after Alok Verma was removed as the CBI Director, on the 10th of January, due to corruption charges. However, Common Cause, a non governmental organisation (NGO,) deemed the appointment of Mr. Rao as illegal and filed a petition against the same in the SC.
The next hearing for M. Nageswara Rao’s case is scheduled on the 4th of February.
Stay tuned for further updates.
