Rishi Kumar Shukla is new CBI Chief

New Delhi: The government on Saturday appointed Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, as new chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

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 for the investigating agency's top job.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, based on the panel recommended by the Committee, constituted as per Section 4 A(1) of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, approved the appointment of Rishi Kumar Shukla as the Director, CBI, vice Alok Kumar Verma for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office," an official notification said.

The 59-year-old Shukla, who was DGP during the BJP regime in Madhya Pradesh, was at the moment heading the state's Police Housing Corporation. He has no experience of having worked in the CBI. He has served in the Intelligence Bureau. He would have normally retired in August 2020, but his tenure in CBI will end in February, 2021.

Shukla was appointed Madhya Pradesh's Director General of Police on June 30, 2016. He held the post till Jan 30, 2019.

Referring to the continuance of M. Nageshwara Rao, who was appointed interim chief in October last year after Verma and Asthana were forced to go on leave following mutual allegations of corruption, capping the bitter feud.

The Supreme Court had on Friday raised questions as to how long the present situation in the CBI will continue with an inerim chief.

A Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Naveen Sinha told the government that the post of CBI Director was sensitive and that the government should have appointed a regular director by now.

On January 10, the high-level committee had removed Verma as CBI chief a day after he was reinstated by the Supreme Court. He was made the Director General, Fire Services, Civil Services and Home Guard which he refused to accept.