The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is on the lookout for a new Director as the tenure of the current Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal is about to end. The search is now being headed by a high-level committee that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
During a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence on the evening of 13 May, the committee selected three senior IPS officers for the post of CBI director. These names have now been sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, which will select one of them for the top post. Senior IPS officers from Karnataka, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh cadre were considered.
Candidates who made the cut and were sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet include Praveen Sood, currently serving as the Director General of Police (DGP) in Karnataka, Sudhir Kumar Saxena, DGP of Madhya Pradesh, and Taj Hasan, Who is the Director General of Fire Service, Civil Defense and Home Guard.
One of the top contenders for the post is DGP Sood, a 1986 batch IPS officer, who has the backing of the Prime Minister and the CJI. However, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, submitted a detailed dissent note opposing Sood’s candidature, stating that he was not part of the pool of IPS officers eligible to serve at the DGP level at the Centre.
Jaiswal, a 1985 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre and former Mumbai police commissioner, took over as CBI director on May 26, 2021 succeeding RK Shukla. The CBI chief is selected by a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha for a fixed term of two years, which can be extended by five years.
The search for a new CBI director comes at a time when the agency is probing several sensitive cases, such as the Pegasus spyware scandal and alleged irregularities in the purchase of medical equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new director will be expected to lead the agency through these challenging times and maintain its reputation as one of India’s premier investigative agencies.
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