New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday strongly objected to the process adopted for selecting the next director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, accusing the government of turning the selection exercise into a mere formality and denying the opposition a meaningful role.
During a high powered committee meeting chaired by Narendra Modi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha submitted a detailed two page dissent note, stating that he did not wish to participate in what he described as a “biased exercise”.
The selection panel, which met at the Prime Minister’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi, also included Surya Kant. The committee is responsible for recommending the next CBI director from a panel of senior IPS officers.
In his dissent note, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government had repeatedly misused the CBI against opposition leaders, journalists and critics. He argued that the inclusion of the Leader of Opposition in the committee was intended to prevent institutional capture and ensure transparency in the appointment process.
The Congress leader further claimed that despite repeated written requests, he was not provided access to crucial documents such as self appraisal reports and 360 degree evaluation reports of eligible candidates before the meeting. According to him, he was expected to examine appraisal records of 69 officers for the first time during the committee session itself.
He stated that denying such information without legal justification undermined the fairness of the selection process and suggested that the government had already decided on its preferred candidate in advance.
Rahul Gandhi also referred to an earlier dissent note submitted during a previous committee meeting in May last year, along with a later letter proposing reforms for a fairer and more transparent selection mechanism, claiming that no response had been received.
The tenure of current CBI Director Praveen Sood is scheduled to conclude on May 24. The meeting to finalise his successor reportedly lasted for over an hour, though no official statement has yet been released regarding the discussions.
Several senior IPS officers are understood to be under consideration for the post, including Parag Jain, Shatrujeet Kapoor, Yogesh Gupta, G P Singh and Praveer Ranjan. The next CBI chief is expected to take charge at a time when the agency is handling multiple politically sensitive and high profile investigations across the country.
