New Delhi: A high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi comprising Chief Justice of India Justice NV Ramana and Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday met to select the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
As per sources, DG CISF Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Director General RK Chandra and Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Ministry of Home Affairs VSK Kamudi, have been shortlisted for the post of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The sources said that the meeting lasted for more than 90 minutes and the committee has decided to choose one of them as the new CBI chief.
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CISF chief Subodh Jaiswal is one of the top contenders for the post, sources said.
During the meeting, LoP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury objected to the entire process of selection and argued that how can the government trim a list of 109 officers to 16 just hours before the meeting.
Congress leader and the other two committee members had received a list of 109 IPS officers from which one name was to be selected. But on Monday afternoon, it was further shortlisted to 10 names, and then before the meeting, six names were placed before the selection committee.
"The way procedure was followed was in conflict of the mandate of the committee. On 11th (May), I was given 109 names and today by 1 pm, 10 names were shortlisted and by 4 pm, six names were shortlisted. This casual approach of DoPT (department of personnel and training) is highly objectionable," Chowdhury said
As per sources, in the last minutes of the meeting, Chowdhury however, said that only officers with at least six months of service left should be picked. The central agency has been without a full-time director since RK Shukla retired on February 2, 2021.
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Currently, Praveen Sinha, a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, is holding the position of acting CBI chief. The tenure of a CBI director is fixed for two years, and the new director will serve until 2023.
with agency inputs
