CBI director meeting every officer with grievance on Fridays

New CBI Director R K Shukla has opened his doors for all officers to resolve their grievances, a move that comes after many of them complained of harassment when the agency was caught in a tug of war between the previous director and his deputy, sources said.

They said that Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer, on every Friday meets officers, irrespective of their rank, who want to raise issues troubling them by appointment.

The director gives a patient hearing to them in a one-to-one meeting and tries to resolve the issues as soon as possible, they said.

About 40 officers have met him since February 4 this year when he took over as the chief of the agency, they said.

After former director Alok Verma was suddenly sent on forced leave on the night of October 23, 2018, the CBI had seen a series of transfers, including of the team which was probing a corruption case against former special director Rakesh Asthana.

The first cycle of transfers was done on October 24, last year, a day after M Nageswar Rao was made the acting director of the agency.

He was appointed to the post after the government divested Verma and Asthana of their powers in the backdrop of a bitter tussle between the two.

The Supreme Court, while hearing the plea against divestment of Verma's powers, had clipped the wings of Rao, restraining him from taking any policy decisions.

Similar conditions were imposed on Verma when he was reinstated by the apex court on January 8.

Immediately after taking over, he had undone most of the transfers done on the orders of Rao.

Within two days, Verma was transferred by the high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising of Justice A K Sikri and leader of Congress Mallikarjuna Kharge in a majority split verdict.