After months of controversy over the top post in the apex investigative agency, Rishi Kumar Shukla, a 1983-batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre with experience in the Intelligence Bureau (IB), was appointed as the new chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
According to a Personnel Ministry order, Shukla has been appointed as CBI chief for a fixed tenure of two years. After taking over as the CBI chief, Shukla emphasised that the “agency has a glorious tradition and has great esteem in the eyes of the public, with a lot of expectations from them. Therefore, we have to focus on professional skills.”
A unique first day at work…
But Shukla’s first day as the chief was by objections to his appointment from senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, one of the three members of the high-powered committee that selects the agency’s director.
Shukla was also immediately tasked with the challenge of resolving the agency’s dirty turf war with the Kolkata Police that into a political slugfest between the and the West Bengal government over the weekend, which has become the top priority for CBI at the moment.
The new director has not offered an official comment on the issue but is believed to restore a semblance of order and control to the agency by a bitter spat between erstwhile chief Alok Verma and his second-in-command Rakesh Asthana over corruption charges.
Kharge’s objection
Shukla’s appointment came almost a day after the second meeting of the selection committee remained inconclusive, of which, Kharge along with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was a part of.
Lok Sabha opposition leader, Kharge on Saturday had written a dissent note to Modi, expressing his objection over the appointment, on grounds that Shukla’s inexperience in handling anti-corruption allegations may hamper his ability to rebuild the institution destroyed due to the central government’s repeated attacks on its autonomy.
Among the high profile the agency is currently investigating are the $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank involving fugitive diamond billionaire Nirav Modi, the AgustaWestland Chopper scam, the Rafale deal, the Saradha chit fund scam, and loan defaults by liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
Kharge further asked for minutes of the selection panel meeting to be made public, to which Arun Jaitley hit back, Kharge of dissenting regularly. In the 2:1 vote that led to Verma’s final ouster last month, it was Kharge who had cast the lone vote rooting for the former chief.
Stepping into controversial shoes
Shukla, 59, takes over as the full-fledged director from interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao who was entrusted with the role after the sent Verma and Asthana packing in October.
The Centre had removed Verma and Asthana on October 23, 2018, after the duo bartered a series of allegations of corruption against each other which unfolded in public eye as a riveting internal crisis.
Shortly before this, Asthana had been taken off a high-profile money laundering case on charges of accepting bribes from some of the key witnesses. A chargesheet was also filed against him, after some of the middlemen involved in the transactions came forward.
Verma was removed from his protected position soon after the CBI made a couple of arrests in connection to the bribery case incriminating Asthana, who was later relieved as well.
What followed was an extensive and unprecedented reshuffle of CBIs highest echelons on October 24 to manage the fallout that underscored the level of damage this corruption case (and others that the agency is investigating) could prove for the government.
Verma had moved the top court questioning the move, following which the court probed the charges against him, took stock of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)’s probe into the allegations, and decided to reinstate him on January 8.
Two days later, the selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which was asked to take the final call, decided to remove him for good. The Centre subsequently also curtailed the tenure of three of Verma’s closest aides.
Curriculum vitae
Appointed as the 28th Director General of Police (DGP) of Madhya Pradesh on June 30, 2016, it was only last week that Shukla was transferred to head the Police Housing Corporation, by the new Congress regime in the heartland state.
Before becoming the DGP in Madhya Pradesh, Shukla had served in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) as Joint and held the tfolio of Additional Director General of Railways, Narcotics Home guards.
Hailing from Gwalior, Shukla holds a postgraduate degree in Philosophy, besides having received training in Crisis Management in the US in 1995 and in hostage negotiations in 2005. He was also presented with the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2007 and Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1999.
He was first posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Raipur and later as Superintendent of Police in Damoh, Shivpuri and Mandsaur districts. He was on central deputation between 1992 and 1996 and served as Additional Director General, Intelligence, from 2009 to 2012.
The maiden challenge
With the ongoing showdown in Kolkata, Shukla had to immediately take over his duties as the agency’s director. Word has it, that the perplexed interim chief had been scrambling resources to counter the West Bengal Police’s action that not only detained a CBI team but also cordoned off the agency’s regional office.
The CBI may have overstepped its boundaries in rushing to interrogate/arrest Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, after being explicitly denied any jurisdiction by the Calcutta High Court. But the agency has been investigating the extensive web of Saradha and Rose Valley ponzi scams, since 2014, especially Kumar’s involvement in seizing crucial evidence.
Sources told India Today that minutes after assuming office, Shukla met senior officers and discussed the agency’s face-off with the Kolkata Police and the West Bengal government. The CBI even moved Supreme Court on Monday, holding Kolkata’s top cop in contempt of court for ignoring the agency’s summons for questioning.
CBIs application to the SC held that it has more than enough evidence to arrest Kumar without any warrant, but it did not get any immediate relief from the apex court in the matter.
The bench responded by saying it still need the state government’s consent under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act which limits the CBI’s powers and jurisdiction in states that do not consent to probed by the agency.
The court then posted the matter for an urgent hearing on Tuesday. The CBI is expected to present its exclusive report on the Saradha chit fund scam cases to the Supreme Court this morning.
Prarthana Mitra is a staff writer at Qrius