Praveen Sinha, a 1988-batch Gujarat cadre IPS officer, currently serving as Additional Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been appointed the officiating Director of the country’s premier investigative agency with immediate effect.
The two-year term of incumbent director, RK Shukla, ends on February 3.
Sinha’s appointment was approved by the Appointment’s Committee of the Cabinet, the government said.
“Praveen Sinha, IPS (GJ:88) Additional Director CBI shall with immediate effect look after the duties of Director CBI.. till the appointment of a new Director, or until further orders,” a note issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions read.
Shukla, a Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS officer, was appointed to head the agency in 2019 after the then CBI Director Alok Verma was removed by the government following an ugly spat with his deputy Rakesh Asthana.
Sources said the agency will get a full-time director in two weeks. BSF chief Rakesh Asthana, NIA chief YC Mody and CISF chief Subodh Jaiswal and Kerala DGP Loknath Behera are among the contenders for the top job.
The full-time CBI chief will be picked in the meeting of the high-powered committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The position of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is presently vacant.
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