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After 4 wobbly months, CBI gets a steady head

Rishi Kumar Shukla named agency director for fixed tenure of 2 yrs

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Rishi Kumar Shukla
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Capping a four-month-long dramatic sequence, the government named 1983-batch IPS officer and former Madhya Pradesh top cop Rishi Kumar Shukla as the new CBI director for a fixed tenure of two years from the date of appointment.

Shukla's name has been finalised by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection panel which also has Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge as members.

Kharge is said to have submitted a two-page dissent note to the PM opposing Shukla's name, citing his "inexperience" in handling anti-corruption investigations.

Shukla, who was the DGP of MP in 2016, is currently posted as chairman of the MP Police Housing Corporation. He will take charge from acting director M Nageswara Rao, who took over as the agency's interim director last month following the removal of Alok Verma.

Shukla's appointment comes at a time when the investigating agency is going through a leadership crisis and discontent among subordinate officers, who are upset with "unjustified transfers".

Shukla has the task of closing probes in crucial cases including the AgustaWestland chopper scam, 2G and coal scams, Air India scandal, money-laundering charges against Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, UP sand mining scam, chit fund scams, FIR against former ICICI CEO Chanda Kochhar.

Shukla's name was short-listed on Friday, during the second meeting of the three-member panel to appoint the CBI director. The first was held on Januray 24.

But Friday's meet remained inconclusive following objections on Shukla's name raised by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

He claimed the main criteria to select the CBI chief is that the candidate must have at least 100 months experience of probing anti-corruption cases.

But the matter was sent to the Cabinet, which sealed the decision in Shukla's favour.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Rishi Kumar Shukla... for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office," read a letter by the Department of Personnel and Training.

The development assumes significance as on Friday, the Supreme Court had said it was "averse" to the arrangement of an interim CBI director and the Centre should "immediately" appoint a regular chief.

The other contenders for the post were senior IPS officers Javed Ahmad, RR Bhatnagar and Sudeep Lakhtakia.

The CBI director's post has been lying vacant since January 10, after the unceremonious exit of Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges.

The government alleged that Congress leader Kharge, tried to 'manipulate' the selection criteria with the ulterior motive of accommodating some of his preferred officers. Union Minister Jitendra Singh alleged that Kharge was "giving only his own version" of the panel's deliberations to the media.

End Of An Impasse 

  • 1983-batch IPS officer Shukla, who was MP DGP in 2016, is currently chairman of MP Police Housing Corp. 
  • CBI had plummeted into unprecedented turmoil after its top two at the time — Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana — were moved out after an extended public spat. 
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