As the term of current CBI director Rishi Kumar Shukla (IPS:1983:MP) will end on February 2, Centre has speed up its hunt for next central investigative agency chief.
As soon as the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) finalises the list of senior IPS officers from the 1984-86 batches for the top post, the Union government will choose the best suited new CBI chief.
Sources said that the DoPT, MHA and CVC will soon finalize the names of senior IPS officers who are among the top contenders for the post. The assessment of the proposed candidates is done by CVC which later gives vigilance clearances. Thereafter, the DoPT ranks them on seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases.
According to sources, several officers of the 1984, 1985 and 1986 batch are in the running for the top post, including Y.C. Modi (IPS:1984:AM), who is currently the chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Arun Kumar (IPS:1985:UP), Director General of Railway Protection Force and Praveen Sinha (IPS:1988:GJ), currently Additional Director in the CBI.
Besides them, Central Reserve Police Force Director General A P Maheshwari (IPS:1984:UP) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief S S Deswal (IPS:1984:HY) are also said to be in the race.
Sources said that Rakesh Asthana (IPS:1984:GJ), DG Border Security Force and also holding additional charge of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), is also in the race.
Among other front runners for the CBI director post include Kerala DGP Loknath Behera, UP DGP Hitesh Chand Awasthy, both are 1985 batch IPS officers who have earlier served in the CBI.
Besides them, M A Ganapathy (IPS:1986:UK), currently Director General of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is also said to be in the tight race for the top post.
As the process goes, a three-member panel headed by the Prime Minister (PM), Chief Justice of India (CJI) and the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha does the final selection of the CBI director.
