CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra appointed new Election Commissioner

Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sushil Chandra has been appointed the new Election Commissioner of India (ECI).

The development comes months before the country goes to polls.

Joint Commissioner of Income Tax, Satya Pinisetty, on February 14 tweeted Chandra's appointment.

CBDT Chairman and 1980 batch IRS officer Sushil Chandra appointed as Election Commissioner. pic.twitter.com/cvEAN3xKiS

— Satya Pinisetty (@SatyaPinisetty) February 14, 2019

Chandra is an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) graduate, and a 1980 batch officer of the Indian Revenue Service (IRS).

Chandra is currently serving as chairman of CBDT till May 2019. This is his second extension after taking over as the chief of the CBDT, the apex policy-making body of the Income Tax Department, on November 1, 2016.

Chandra's term as the CBDT chairman was extended in May 2018.

Recently, the Economic Times had reported that Chandra's brother-in-law, Arvind Goel, was probed by the Uttar Pradesh government for allegedly buying and selling about 200 acres of land parcel in Moradabad through suspected black money. The transactions, according to the report, occurred in a series between 2004 and 2017.

With Chandra's appointment, the Election Commission now has Sunil Arora as the Chief Election Commissioner and Ashok Lavasa and Chandra as fellow commissioners.