Selection Panel to meet on January 24 to decide on new CBI director

The Selection Committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi will meet on January 24 to decide on new CBI Director.

The CBI is currently headed by an Interim Director M Nageswara Rao after the incumbent Alok Verma was shunted out on January 10.

Kharge, only yesterday, wrote to the Prime Minister, saying the post of Interim Director does not "legally exist" as per the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act which governs the CBI and demanded immediate convening of the Selection Committee to chose a new CBI Director.

The decision to remove Verma as CBI Director was taken at the January 10 meeting of the Selection Committee which was attended by the Prime Minister, Kharge and Supreme Court Judge Justice A K Sikri, who was representing the Chief Justice of India.

Kharge, in his letter to the Prime Minister, had said the government should "establish its bonafide in fighting corruption" and ensure the "integrity of the premier investigative agency" by convening a meeting of the Selection Committee immediately to appoint a Director without any further delay.

"Any delay would further erode the faith the public has placed in this institution and the credibility of the institution," he added.