The selection of the new CBI director by the Union government has got mired in controversy after the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Maillikarjun Kharge is learnt to have given a dissent note to the three member selection panel chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi which met on Monday to pick the new boss of the probe agency.
The three-member panel headed by the prime minister has Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, and Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar as members.
While there is no official word on who the government is proposing as the chief of the premier investigating agency, it is learnt that the name of Delhi police commissioner Alok Kumar Verma topped the list of IPS officers discussed by the panel.
Kharge had earlier sent off a strongly-worded letter to the prime minister protesting against the manner in which the second in command in the CBI and the main contender for the top job (according to seniority and experience) Rupak Kumar Dutta was moved to the home ministry days before the incumbent Anil Kumar Sinha completed his two year tenure on December 2.
Instead, a Gujarat cadre officer Rakesh Asthana was appointed as the interim chief, triggering a political storm. However, it is learnt that Asthana may not be able to become the full time director of the anti-corruption agency as he has yet to be empaneled to the DG level.
Meanwhile, uncertainty continues to prevail as to who will the opposition settle down with amongst the names discussed by the panel. For now, Kharge has put the government in a tight spot with his dissent note.
The names proposed to the panel also include SSB chief Archana Ramasundaram, ITBP chief Krishna Choudhry, Mumbai police chief Satish Mathur among others.
