Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation

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Template:Infobox official post

The director of the Central Bureau of Investigation is the head of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), an Indian federal crime investigating agency, who is responsible for its day-to-day operations. The CBI is the agency within the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, under the Government of India. The director reports to the Minister concerned.

The current CBI director is Praveen Sood, who has held his position since 25 May 2023.

The Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) reports to the Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, a portfolio generally held by the Prime Minister of India or sometimes a senior Cabinet minister.[1]

Term of office

The term for the director of CBI is initially fixed for two years. The director is appointed by the Union Government on the advice and consent from the Appointment Committee, as per the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DPSE) Act, 1946, and amended through the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act, 2003 and The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013. The term can be renewed by the Committee up to one year with not more than three years of extension.[2]

Appointment

The Appointment Committee appoints the director from the list nominated by the Selection Committee team. The team consists of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (ex-officio chairperson), two members of the Central Vigilance Commission, the Home Secretary, and the Personnel Secretary of India. The director must be a senior Indian Police Service officer and in the rank of Director General of Police (DGP).[2]

After that, the Appointment Committee will select the name from the list. The committee consist of the Prime Minister of India (as chairperson), the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha (or the leader of single largest opposition party, as amended by DSPE (Amendment) Act, 2014 during the Modi government) and the Chief Justice of India (or a Supreme Court Judge nominated by him).[1]

Responsibility

As head of the agency, the director supervises all the work in the CBI and is responsible for the constitution of investigating teams for probing cases. The Selection Committee consults with the director before the appointment committee for the appointments to the other officers in the CBI, with the rank of a superintendent or above.[3][4]

Dismissals

The Government can dismiss the director through the recommendations of the same Appointment Committee. D. Sen was removed after charges were made against him for the misuse of power during the emergency period declared by Indira Gandhi, as per the report made by Shah Commission.[5][6]

In September 2018, director Alok Verma's deputy Rakesh Asthana filed a complaint against him in Central Vigilance Commission. Verma charged Asthana with bribery charges. Later, Narendra Modi's government asked both of them "on forced leave" and appointed Mannem Nageswara Rao for an interim period. The Supreme Court of India, in January 2019, reinstated Verma as the director. But after a few days, the committee, with a 2:1 vote, decided to remove Verma from office. Modi and Supreme Court judge Arjan Kumar Sikri consented in favor, while Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge dissented.[7]

List of the directors

Template:Abbr Name of the
director 		Start of tenure End of tenure Duration of
service 		Prime Minister
during appointment 		Template:Abbr
1. D. P. Kohli Template:Start date Template:End date Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=3 | Jawaharlal Nehru [8]
2. F. V. Arul Template:Start date Template:End date Template:Ayd Indira Gandhi [9]
3. D. Sen 6 May 1971 29 March 1977 Template:Ayd
4. S. N. Mathur 29 March 1977 2 May 1977 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=4| Morarji Desai
5. C. V. Narsimhan 2 May 1977 25 November 1977 Template:Ayd
6. John Lobo 25 November 1977 30 June 1979 Template:Ayd
7. R. D. Singh 30 June 1979 24 January 1980 Template:Ayd
8. J. S. Bajwa 24 January 1980 28 February 1985 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=3| Indira Gandhi
9. M. G. Katre 28 February 1985 31 October 1989 Template:Ayd Rajiv Gandhi
10. A. P. Mukherjee 31 October 1989 11 January 1990 Template:Ayd
- R. ShekarTemplate:Br(acting) 11 January 1990 14 February 1990 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan= 3| V. P. Singh
- Vijay KaranTemplate:Br(acting) 14 February 1990 Template:Ayd
11. S. K. Dutta 14 February 1990 31 July 1993 Template:Ayd
12. K. Vijayarama Rao 31 July 1993 31 July 1996 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=1| P. V. Narasimha Rao [10]
13. Joginder Singh 31 July 1996 30 June 1997 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan =2| H. D. Deve Gowda
14. R. C. Sharma 30 June 1997 31 January 1998 Template:Ayd I. K. Gujral
- D. R. KarthikeyanTemplate:Br(acting) 31 January 1998 31 March 1998 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=5| Atal Bihari Vajpayee
- T. N. MishraTemplate:Br(acting) 31 March 1998 4 January 1999 Template:Ayd
15. R. K. Raghavan 4 January 1999 1 April 2001 Template:Ayd
16. P. C. Sharma 1 April 2001 6 December 2003 Template:Ayd
17. U. S. Misra 6 December 2003 6 December 2005 Template:Ayd
18. Vijay Shanker Tiwari 12 December 2005 31 July 2008 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color"rowspan =4| Manmohan Singh
19. Ashwani Kumar 2 August 2008 30 November 2010 Template:Ayd
20. A P Singh 30 November 2010 30 November 2012 Template:Ayd [11]
21. Ranjit Sinha 3 December 2012 2 December 2014 Template:Ayd [12]
22. Anil Sinha 3 December 2014 2 December 2016 Template:Ayd width="1px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" rowspan=8| Narendra Modi [13]
- Rakesh AsthanaTemplate:Br(interim) 3 December 2016Template:Efn 1 February 2017 Template:Ayd [14]
23. Alok Verma 1 February 2017 1 February 2019Template:Efn Template:Ayd [15][16]
- M. Nageswara RaoTemplate:Br(interim) 24 October 2018Template:Efn 10 January 2019 Template:Ayd [17]
24. Rishi Kumar Shukla 2 February 2019 2 February 2021 Template:Ayd [18]
- Praveen SinhaTemplate:Br(interim) 2 February 2021 25 May 2021 Template:Ayd [19]
25. Subodh Kumar Jaiswal 25 May 2021 25 May 2023 Template:Ayd [20]
26. Praveen Sood 25 May 2023 Incumbent Template:Ayd [21]

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 CBI Leadership Meet: PM Modi Chairs Panel to Select Next CBI Director. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. www.indiacode.nic.in. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  3. ↑ Cabinet committee approves key appointments: Ashwin Shenvi, Sudha Singh, and Ashok Kumar to join CBI as joint directors | Today News. mint(2025-03-05). Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  4. ↑ WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 984 OF 2016. www.commoncause.in. Retrieved 2025-05-10.
  5. ↑ The dark night returns?. theweek.in. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  6. ↑ Post-Emergency, CBI experiences inexplicable growth in finance, manpower. India Today(2015-01-23). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  7. ↑ India's CBI chief fired 48 hours after being reinstated by court, Saberin, Zeenat. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  8. ↑ CBI to celebrate its Golden Jubilee amidst criticism of misuse. www.business-standard.com. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  9. ↑ An officer and a gentleman. Frontline(2006-07-13). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  10. ↑ CBI condoles demise of its former Director K. Vijaya Rama Rao. The Hindu(2023-03-14). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  11. ↑ SHRI AMAR PRATAP SINGH RELINQUISHES CHARGE AS DIRECTOR, CBI ON COMPLETION OF HIS TENURE. Central Bureau of Investigation(2012-11-30). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  12. ↑ Former CBI director Ranjit Sinha passes away, Ranjan, Abhinav. India TV News(2021-04-16). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  13. ↑ 1979-batch IPS officer Anil Kumar Sinha takes over as the new CBI chief. The Indian Express(2014-12-03). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  14. ↑ Special director Rakesh Asthana moved out of CBI. The Indian Express(2019-01-17). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  15. ↑ From CBI chief to former CBI chief: What happened to Alok Verma in 48 hours. The Economic Times(2019-01-10). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  16. ↑ Alok Verma Still Chief, Says CBI Day Before Top Court Hears His Petition. www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  17. ↑ Nageswara Rao ousted as CBI additional director, posted as DG Fire Services. The Indian Express(2019-07-06). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  18. ↑ Former Madhya Pradesh Police Chief Rishi Kumar Shukla Is New CBI Boss. www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  19. ↑ Praveen Sinha takes over as CBI interim chief. The Hindu(2021-02-03). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  20. ↑ Subodh Kumar Jaiswal Biography: All you need to know about the new CBI Director. Financialexpress(2021-05-26). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
  21. ↑ Praveen Sood may get 1-year extension after no consensus on CBI chief's successor. India Today(2025-05-05). Retrieved 2025-05-11.
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