Rishi Kumar Shukla made CBI chief; Kharge sends dissent note to PM Modi citing 'lack of experience'

Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The appointments committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Shukla as the new CBI chief for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office, ANI reported.

NEW DELHI: Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed as the new Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The appointments committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of  Shukla as the new CBI chief for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office. His appointment came after the high-level selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met twice in the last nine days to select the name from a list of over 70 candidates. Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, a member of the selection panel, in a dissent note to the Prime Minister expressed his objection over Shukla's appointment as the CBI Director citing the officer's lack of experience in anti-corruption investigations. Kharge's dissent invited backlash from the BJP which said he wanted to manipulate the selection criteria. "Whatever is being said by him (Kharge) is totally unfounded and not based on facts. For the selection of CBI Director, a very objective criteria was followed," Minister of State (MoS) for Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh said. He alleged Kharge wanted to manipulate the CBI chief selection criteria and wanted to include officers of his choice in short-list. Shukla is at present chairman of Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation in Bhopal. He has been appointed in place of Alok Kumar Verma, who was removed from the post of CBI Director on January 10. Shukla was recently transferred from the post of Director General of Madhya Pradesh Police to the police housing corporation. The appointment comes following two meeting of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led selection committee held on January 24 and February 1. Shukla's name was short-listed during the second meeting of the selection committee held on Friday. The post of the CBI chief has been lying vacant since January 10 after the unceremonious exit of Alok Verma, who had been engaged in a bitter fight with Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges. Both Verma and Asthana had accused each other of corruption. M Nageswara Rao has been working as the interim CBI chief after Verma's ouster. On Friday, the Supreme Court said it was "averse" to the arrangement of an interim CBI director and the Centre should "immediately" appoint a regular chief of the probe agency. The post of CBI director is "sensitive" and "important", and it is not good to keep an interim director of the agency for longer period, the top court observed and sought to know as to why the government has not made the appointment yet. Verma, after being removed from the post of CBI director by the PM-led panel, was named as the Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards -- a less significant portfolio. Verma did not accept the offer and wrote to the government, saying he should be considered as deemed superannuated as he has completed 60 years age of superannuation on July 31, 2017. He had taken over as the CBI chief on February 1, 2017 for a fixed two-year tenure that ended Thursday.