Skip to main content

"Lack of transparency" in appointment of CBI director: Govt of India "evades" RTI plea

By Anjali Bhardwaj*
The term of the current director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will finish on January 31, 2019. The government initiated the process of selection of the next chief in December 2018, as per media reports. The selection committee for the appointment of CBI director consists of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India (or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him).
There is complete lack of transparency in the process of appointment of the CBI director. The government has not provided information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act about details of the on-going selection process.
Information was sought under the RTI Act about the meetings of the selection committee, including the date of meetings, copy of agenda of meetings, copy of minutes of meetings and details of persons who attended each meeting.
All Indian Police Service (IPS) officers of the senior-most four batches in service are needed to be considered for filling up the post of the director of the CBI. Information was sought under the RTI Act about (1) any process adopted by the government to short-list candidates for consideration by the selection committee; (2) a copy of any short-list prepared; and (3) details of any committee set up to prepare such a short-list.
The Department of Personnel & Training has responded to each of these RTI applications with the same summary response:
“It is informed that as per this Department’s Executive Order No. 230/14/99-DPSE dated 08.07.2004 issued in pursuance of Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directions dates 20.04.2004 given in CA No. 4303/2002, amongst all the IPS officers of the senior most 4 batches in service on the date of retirement of the (incumbent) Director, CBI are needed to be considered for filling up the post of new Director, CBI. The process of selection of new Director in CBI has not attained finality…”
This is clearly an attempt to obfuscate and withhold information about the appointment process. No details about the selection committee meetings or the process of short-listing candidates have been provided.
In December 2016, when the previous CBI director retired, the Government of India failed to convene a meeting of the selection committee to appoint the successor, and Rakesh Asthana was named interim director. After a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court, Alok Verma was selected and appointed as director.
In order to ensure public trust in the institution of the CBI, it is critical that appointment of the director be made in a timely manner, and there be transparency in the process of appointment, which will enable public scrutiny.
---
*Co-convenor, National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI) 

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published. -- Editor

TRENDING

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

India’s heatwave crisis: How concrete cities are fueling climate emergency

By Rajkumar Sinha*  According to recent studies, urban areas are witnessing a much sharper rise in temperatures than rural regions. The planet is currently heading toward an additional 1.9°C of warming — far beyond the target envisioned under the Paris Agreement . A team of climate scientists associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that India’s average temperature increased by nearly 0.9°C during the decade between 2015 and 2024 compared to the early twentieth century (1901–1930). In western and northeastern India, the hottest day of the year has already become 1.5°C to 2°C warmer since the 1950s.
Post a Comment
»

Retired civil servants slam CJI’s remarks on environmental litigants

By A Representative   An open letter issued on May 22, 2026, by the Constitutional Conduct Group (CCG), comprising 71 retired civil servants from the All India and Central Services, has strongly criticized recent remarks made by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) against environmental litigants. 
Post a Comment
»