Selection panel to meet next week and take a final call. Opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge asks for more information on candidates.
New Delhi: A meeting of the high-powered selection panel to pick the next director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) remained inconclusive Thursday.
The panel, comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, is slated to meet again next week to take a final call on the CBI chief.
Thursday’s meeting lasted over two hours, but it is learnt that there was a lack of consensus among the panel members, which is why no decision was taken.
“No decision on CBI director today. Meeting has been postponed. Can be rescheduled anytime next week,” Kharge told reporters.
According to sources, a list of 80 contenders for the top CBI post was placed before the panel for consideration. However, the list is said to have had very basic details about the officers, such as the cadre, and their date of appointment and retirement.
Sources said Kharge sought additional details on the officers named in the list, including investigations done by them and their background, among other things.
The Congress leader had been the sole dissenting voice in the panel’s previous meeting, which had led to the removal of Alok Verma as the CBI chief, less than 48 hours after he was reinstated to the position by the Supreme Court.
CJI Gogoi, meanwhile, is learnt to have pressed for the next meeting to be held without much delay.
Also read: CBI officer who probed Asthana says he’s being ‘victimised’, moves SC against transfer
The contenders
Among those in the race for the post include Rina Mitra, a 1983-batch IPS officer who is currently special secretary (internal security) with the Home Ministry. She had served in the CBI for five years.
Others contenders are Y.C. Modi, a 1984-batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, who is the current chief of the National Investigation Agency, and Javeed Ahmad, also of the 1984 batch, who is director of the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences.
The controversy
The controversy in the CBI began when Verma and his deputy, special director Rakesh Asthana, got embroiled in a bitter and very public turf war. Both accused each other of corruption in October last year, before being sent on forced leave on the recommendation of the Central Vigilance Commission.
Verma, a former Delhi Police commissioner, had been appointed the director of the probe agency in January 2017 for a two-year period.
After the PM-led panel removed him as the CBI chief on 11 January, he was transferred to the post of DG, Delhi Fire Service, which he had refused to accept. He wrote to the government that he be treated as having retired.
On 17 January, the government curtailed the tenure of Asthana and three other officers, including joint director Arun Kumar Sharma of the Gujarat cadre, DIG Manish Kumar Sinha of the Andhra Pradesh cadre and Superintendent of Police Jayant J. Naiknavare of the Maharashtra cadre.
Also read: CJI steps away from hearing plea against appointment of Nageswara Rao as interim CBI chief
This is an updated version of the report.
it is extremely sad to learn that the list of possible directors for CBI only provided date of joining and date of retirement. Given the sad story of the CBI ‘caged parrot directorship and the role of the SC – does not the CJI have any interest at all in finding out more about the officers on the list – their past assignments – what were the considerations for them being on the list. One channel reports there were a total of 82 names. If so that in itself is a joke and reflects poorly on the CJI – if he had no comments – if this is the way we chose such a senior posting – we might as well flip a coin
I love the idea of flipping a coin – it ensures one will be correct half the time. It requires genius to be wrong almost all of the time.
The Committee’s time is incredibly precious. There are apparently as many as 70 to 80 officers in the zone of consideration. It would be a courtesy to the HLC if the preliminary screening is done by a committee consisting of the Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary and Secretary, Personnel. It could shortlist the six to eight most suitable candidates and put them up to the HLC, certifying that, in terms of both competence and integrity, each one of them is fit to head the CBI. There could be an Executive Record Summary for each candidate, showing the postings he has held, along with his set of Annual Confidential Reports for his entire career. Also a summation of any enquiries or other controversies that he may have faced. 2. Similar material may be compiled and submitted for all eligible officers, should the HLC wish to move beyond the shortlist. 3. One hour should suffice for the HLC to decide. For the exercise to be truly impartial, its decision should invariably be by unanimity.