PM Modi is heading the committee to select the next director of the CBI. (File)

New Delhi:

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s house for a meeting of the committee headed by the PM, comprising him and Leader of Opposition Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, to select the next director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The committee is considering Indian Police Service (IPS) officers from four senior-most batches (1984-87) to be the next CBI chief.

The meeting of the top panel, which lasted for more than 90 minutes, finally took place after being delayed for nearly four months.

Some of the frontrunners for the post are: YC Modi, a 1984-batch IPS officer from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre and Director General of the National Investigation Agency; Rakesh Asthana, Gujarat cadre Director General of the Border Security Force, and SS Deswal, Haryana cadre Director General of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

1985-batch IPS officers including Uttar Pradesh DGP HC Awasthi, Kerala DGP Loknath Behera, Railway Protection Force DG Arun Kumar and Central Industrial Security Force DG SK Jaiswal are also in contention.

In total, over 100 officers from the 1984-87 batches will be considered by the committee.

The law says the committee will select the CBI director “on the basis of seniority, integrity and experience in the investigation of anti-corruption cases” from a list of IPS officers drawn from the four senior-most batches.

The officer selected as CBI director will hold office for a period of not less than two years from the date on which he or she takes charge.

After completing two years, RK Shukla retired as CBI director in February this year. The senior-most Additional Director in the CBI, Praveen Sinha, has been working as CBI Director till the appointment of full-time chief.