PM-headed selection committee to meet today to decide on new CBI Director

The post of CBI chief is lying vacant ever since Alok Verma was removed as CBI Director and appointed as Director General Fire Service - a less significant portfolio, in the meeting on January 10.

The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who was engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges./ Image: PTI

New Delhi: A high-powered CBI selection committee led by Prime Minister Modi will meet on Friday evening to decide on the director of the country's premier investigative agency CBI, which is working without its regular chief, officials said. The first meeting of the panel on January 24 had remained inconclusive. The committee is likely to meet at 6 pm in the evening, to decide upon the name of the new head that will be succeeding Alok Verma. The panel is scheduled to meet on Friday, the officials had said, without citing further details. Apart from the PM, other members of panel include, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Ouster of Verma has triggered a huge political row with Kharge demanding to appoint a new director of the probe agency at the earliest arguing that it cannot be run by an interim director, whose appointment he termed as illegal.  IPS officer M Nageswara Rao was named as the interim director of the CBI following Verma's removal. The post of CBI chief is lying vacant ever since Alok Verma was removed as CBI Director and appointed as Director General Fire Service - a less significant portfolio, in the meeting on January 10, in which Kharge gave his dissenting note. Verma was removed within 48 hours of the Supreme Court reinstating him on the post. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 year age of superannuation. The Centre has not yet made public its decision on Verma's letter. Kharge had opposed the removal of Verma and instead demanded that he be compensated as the government removed him from the post for 77 days and thus be given an extension. In the last meeting of the panel, a list of eligible officers along with their dossiers was shared with the panel members. "The government presented names of 70-80 officers. There was no mention of their career details including relevant experience. We (referring to CJI Gogoi) have asked them to provide all the necessary details. The next meeting will be convened may be by next week," Kharge had told reporters after the January 24 meeting. The Congress has been attacking the prime minister for not appointing a regular CBI Director. (ABP NEWS is a free to air channel. To watch ABP NEWS as part of your basic pack, contact your cable/DTH operator.)