New CBI chief: Kharge writes dissent note; government hits back

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who was part of the PM-led selection panel that selected the CBI director today, has sent a dissent note to PM Modi expressing his objection over the appointment of Rishi Kumar Shukla + as the new head of the agency.

Raising concern over Shukla's appointment, Kharge said that officers without relevant experience of handling corruption cases shouldn't have been considered for the post of CBI director.

Reacting to Kharge's dissent note, Union minister Jitendra Singh claimed the Congress leader tried to manipulate the selection criteria and wanted to include officers of his choice in the shortlist.

"Chief Justice of India and selection panel member Ranjan Gogoi fully endorsed objective criteria applied for selection of CBI chief," Singh said.



Singh added that whatever is being said by Kharge is totally unfounded and not based on facts.

He also hit out at Kharge for "giving his own version" of the panel's deliberations to the media.

Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer, was named the new CBI director today by a three-member selection panel which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and CJI Ranjan Gogoi.