PM Narendra Modi led panel decides on three top contenders for the post of CBI Director with Praveen Sood as the frontrunner

New Delhi, May 14

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led panel comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chaowdhury has shortlisted three senior IPS officers for the post of CBI Director. 

The high-level committee has sent three names to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), which will finally pick one of them for the post of the CBI Director.

The committee considered names of the senior IPS officers from Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab were discussed during the meeting.

The candidates who made the cut and were referred to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet include Praveen Sood, currently serving as Director General of Police (DGP) in Karnataka, Sudhir Kumar Saxena, DGP of Madhya Pradesh, and Taj Hassan, who is the Director General of Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards.

One of the top contenders for the post is DGP Sood, a 1986 batch IPS officer, who appears to have the backing of the prime minister and the CJI. However, the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, submitted a detailed dissent note opposing Sood's candidature on the grounds that he was not part of the pool of IPS officers eligible to serve at DGP level at the Centre. 

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had earlier sent a list of nearly 115 names for the CBI chief’s post, including some officers who were not empanelled.

CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal’s fixed tenure of two years is going to an end on May 25 and the move indicated that his candidature for extension was not discussed. Jaiswal, a former Mumbai Police Commission Jaiswal, is a 1985-batch IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre, who took over the reins of the CBI on May 26, 2021.

The CBI Director is selected by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, CJI and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha for a fixed tenure of two years. The tenure can be extended up to five years.

While Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud is the third member of the committee which selects the CBI chief, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is the third member of the selection committee for the CVC and Vigilance Commissioners.