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Rishi Kumar Shukla, former Madhya Pradesh police chief, is new CBI director
Rishi Kumar Shukla’s appointment came more than three weeks after the government sacked CBI Director Alok Verma last month.
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The Centre has appointed IPS officer Rishi Kumar Shukla as the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Shukla is a Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer from 1983 batch.
Shukla is at present the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved Shukla’s appointment for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office.
The department of personnel and training letter confirming appointment of Shukla as CBI director reads, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has, based on the panel recommended by the Committee constituted as per Section 4A(1) of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, approved the appointment of Shri Rishi Kumar Shukla, IPS (MP: 1983) as Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) vice Shri Alok Kumar Verma, IPS (AGMU: 1979), for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office.”
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in a dissent note to the Prime Minister expressed his objection over the appointment of IPS officer Rishi Kumar Shukla as the new CBI Director citing the officer’s lack of experience in anti-corruption investigations, according to ANI .
Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Centre over delay in the appointment of the CBI director. The court had expressed its displeasure with the arrangement of an interim CBI chief.
The Supreme Court had observed that the post of CBI director was “sensitive” and “important”. The agency should not be headed by an interim chief for longer period, the court had said.
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The appointment comes a day after the second meeting of the selection committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge failed to arrive at a consensus on Friday.
The post of CBI director has been lying vacant since January 10 when the selection panel had removed Alok Verma from the post of CBI director.
Verma was engaged in a bitter fight with then CBI special director and Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana. Both Verma and Asthan accused one another of corruption.
As the infighting scaled up in the agency, the government sent Verma and Asthana on forced leave on October 23, and appointed M Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI chief.
