Meet to pick CBI chief pushed due to Cong leader: Official

A top panel mandated to select a regular director for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will not be able to meet before May 2 due to the unavailability of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a senior government official has told the Centre’s top law officer KK Venugopal in a letter seen by HT.

The apex court, which is hearing a petition on the delay in appointment of a full-time CBI director, nudged the government earlier this month to hold the meeting before May 2. The CBI has been without a regular director after Rishi Kumar Shukla demitted office on February 2 after completing his twoyear term. Currently, the premier investigating agency is headed by interim director Pravin Sinha.

Under the law, the CBI director has to be appointed on the recommendation of a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the single largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India or their nominee.

Lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who appeared for the petitioner NGO ‘Common Cause’, had claimed during this hearing that the delay in holding the meeting was designed to “bypass” the present Chief Justice of India SA Bobde who is retiring on April 23. The Centre had then rejected this charge and tasked Deepak Khandekar, secretary of the department of personnel and training (DoPT), to explore the possibility of holding a meeting before May 2.

In a letter to Attorney General Venugopal on Sunday, Deepak Khandekar said this didn’t work out. “Undersigned Deepak Khandekar has contacted Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Leader of the single largest Opposition party in the House of People (Indian National Congress) and Shri Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury informed that he will not be available till 2nd May 2021. Therefore, a meeting of the above said committee may be feasible to be convened only after 2nd May 2021,” Khandekar’s April 18 letter said.