Centre Appoints Ex-Maharashtra DGP Subodh Kumar Jaiswal As CBI Director

Jaiswal is a 1985 batch officer from Maharashtra cadre and is currently posted as director general of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

(File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: A high-level committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday appointed IPS officer Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director.

Jaiswal is a 1985 batch officer from Maharashtra cadre and is currently posted as director general of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

As per reports, PM Modi-led three-member selection committee had on Monday shortlisted his name for the post. Jaiswal has been appointed as the director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a period of two years, the ministry order said.

Jaiswal has also served as Maharashtra's director general of police in the past. He was said to be one of the top contenders for the post.

Other names proposed for the post were Hitesh Chandra Awasthi, a 1985 IPS officer of the UP cadre, Sashastra Seema Bal KR Chandra and Special Secretary, Home, V.S.K. Kaumudi. 

As per the order issued by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), Jaiswal will take over CBI soon. The post has been lying vacant ever since Rishi Kumar Shukla completed his tenure in February this year.

Since then, the Additional Director Praveen Sinha has been given charge of the national investigation agency as interim chief.

Jaiswal appointment came after a 90-minute long marathon meeting which also comprised Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Congress Lok Sabha floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Chowdhury, the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha and member of the selection committee to pick the new CBI Director, had raised objections over the selection process, saying the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had followed a "casual approach" in choosing the names of candidates for the top post. 

As per protocol, first DoPT chooses the names of at least three or four officers for the CBI Director's post, they are sent to the Select Committee comprising the Prime Minister, the CJI and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, which decides the final pick for a fixed term of two years.