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Two more CBI officers set to get promoted internally
There are 18 sanctioned posts of JDs in the agency and four among them are reserved for officers from the permanent cadre but due to lack of officers eligible for promotion most of the times these posts are filled with IPS officers, a CBI official said.
With a war at the top becoming an impediment in senior-level recruitment on deputation from outside the agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is looking inward and has decided to promote two more Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officers who belong to its permanent cadre and have risen from ranks, as Joint Directors (JD), said CBI officials familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified.
Last month, the agency internally promoted a permanent cadre officer, NM Singh, to the rank of JD, the first time it had done so in nine years. This is a critical post as JDs head respective zones of the agency. Due to vacancies, many JDs are holding dual charge now. CBI currently has 14 JDs.
“We have recommended names of two of our DIGs, who joined the agency as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) more than two decades back, for promotion to the next rank of Joint Director,” said one of the CBI officials.
The names have been sent to the ministry of personnel which is the administrative ministry of CBI. Following a scrutiny, the ministry will forward their names to the Union Public Service Commission for the issue of a final order in this regard, added the official.
DS Shukla, one of the DIGs recommended for promotion as JD, which is an Inspector General-level post, has been already been given temporary charge of JD looking after special crime zone, which deals with cases of murder, rape or organised crime.
“There are 18 sanctioned posts of JDs in the agency and four among them are reserved for officers from the permanent cadre but due to lack of officers eligible for promotion most of the times these posts are filled with Indian Police Service (IPS) officers who join the agency for five to seven years on deputation. Once the two DIGs are promoted, it will be a rare instance of three permanent cadre officers working as JDs at the same time,” said a second CBI official familiar with the matter. This person added that the internal promotion two more DIGs will be a huge relief for the agency as due to friction between CBI director Alok Verma and his special director Rakesh Asthana, new recruitment has almost stopped.
“Director Verma thinks that the government is deliberately ignoring names suggested by him for tenure appointment in the agency at the behest of Asthana who he (the director) thinks wants to bring in officers of his choice. But officers close to Asthana deny this charge altogether,” said a third CBI official.
There have been no new appointments in the agency at the level of JDs since January this year when three officers of the rank were appointed from outside the agency.
The fight at the top also means that Indian Police Service officers are apprehensive joining the agency because they want to avoid to being identified with one group or another, added the third official.
HT is aware of at least two cases where official who were considered for appointment in CBI at the JD rank said they were not interested in joining the agency. A CBI spokesperson did not respond to calls seeking comment.
