CBI gets full-time head after 3 months, former Maharashtra DGP is the chosen one

NEW DELHI:  Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, a 1985 batch Maharashtra cadre IPS officer and the current director general of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Tuesday was appointed the chief of the CBI. Jaiswal’s appointment was made after a high powered committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary cleared his name after holding an almost 90-minute meeting on Monday.

The Congress had cried foul over the process of selection saying that a very casual approach was adopted in the selection process. “The way the procedure was followed, it was in conflict with the mandate of the committee. On May 11, I was given 109 names and on Monday 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 had said.

According to the order issued by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), Jaiswal will take over the post of CBI director.  The post has been lying vacant since February 3 when Rishi Kumar Shukla completed his tenure. Additional Director Praveen Sinha has been helming the affairs of the agency as interim chief since then.

Jaiswal will have a fixed tenure of two years in CBI from the day he joins the agency. The new CBI director pipped other frontrunners like VKS Kaumudi and RK Sharma to the post. Other frontrunners included HC Awasthi, Rakesh Asthana and YC Modi. A total of over 100 officers of the 1984-1986 batch were in contention for the CBI’s top post.