CBI may get new head soon

New Delhi: The government is likely to finalise the name of a full-time CBI director in a day or two. The meeting of the selection committee, headed by the Prime Minister, is expected to take place either on January 12 or January 13 to finalise the name to head the premier investigating agency of the country.

Sources said, “Meeting of the collegium (selection committee) is expected to take place either on Thursday or Friday”. Currently Rakesh Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer of 1984-batch, is holding the additional charge of the director CBI. Mr Asthana’s appointment as the interim chief of the CBI has already been challenged in the Supreme Court. After the enactment of the Lokpal Act — meant to give more teeth to the CBI — the director of the agency has to be appointed by the collegium of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India or his nominee and the Leader of the Opposition.

Government has already prepared a list of senior IPS officials (all from 1979 batch to 1982) for the coveted post, they added. Several names are doing rounds for the post. Among the prominent names, which could make the cut as the director CBI, are Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) director-general Archana Ramasundram (1980-batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre), Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) director-general M.C. Borwankar, Delhi police commissioner Alok Verma (1979-batch IPS officer of the Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories cadre), Krishna Chaudhary, director general of the ITBP, special secretary in the home ministry R.K. Dutta (1981 batch Karnataka Cadre) and director general of police (Maharashtra) Satish Mathur (1981 batch IPS).

“As per the existing norm the Central government has to appoint the CBI director on the recommendation of the collegium only,” sources said. According to the Supreme Court guidelines, officials having experience in anti-corruption or CBI from the senior most four batches of IPS cadre will be empanelled, following which a screening of three officers would be sent to the collegium”, sources said.