Rajya Sabha takes up bill amending CBI chief selection process

The Rajya Sabha Thursday took up discussion on the bill to amend the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act to include leader of the single largest opposition party in Lok Sabha as a member of the CBI chief selection committee, instead of the leader of opposition.

The Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was passed by the Lok Sabha Wednesday.

Speaking on the bill, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley defended the provision that the appointment of the director would not be invalid on the grounds of any vacancy or absence of a member of the committee, saying a similar provision exists for various institutions where appointments were made by a collegium.

"In all organisations (where) collegium makes appointment, identical provision exits," he said.

"We want the largest party or Leader of Opposition (in the selection panel)," he added.

The bill assumes significance as current Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Ranjit Sinha's term ends Dec 2.

The Delhi Special Police Establishment Act provides for a three member committee, comprising the prime Minister (chairperson), the chief justice of India or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him, and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, to make recommendations to the central government for appointment of the director.

The bill amends this provision in relation to the leader of opposition, stating that where there is no leader of opposition, the leader of the single largest opposition party would instead be part of the committee.

The current Lok Sabha does not have a recognised leader of opposition. Under the statutory provisions, the post goes to the party that has at least 10 percent of the house's strength as elected members, currently pegged at 55.