Centre extends CBI Director Sood’s tenure by one year

New Delhi: The Centre has extended Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Praveen Sood’s tenure by one year, the Personnel Ministry confirmed on Wednesday. Sood, who assumed office on May 25, 2023, was originally appointed for a two-year term.

The decision was made following a meeting of the high-level selection committee held on Monday. The committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also included Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi. Officials said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) cleared the extension based on the panel’s recommendation.

This is the first time the government has invoked the provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Act, 2021 to prolong the CBI chief’s term. The amendment, passed by Parliament in December 2021 and receiving presidential assent shortly after, enables the government to extend the CBI director’s tenure by one year at a time, up to a total of five years.

An official noted, “The extension is in line with the provisions of the DSPE Act, which allows for such decisions in public interest.” Sood is a 1986-batch Indian Police Service officer from the Karnataka cadre. Before leading the CBI, he served as Karnataka’s Director General of Police. Born in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, in 1964, he earned an engineering degree from IIT Delhi before joining the IPS at age 22.

The Supreme Court had mandated in a 1997 judgment that the CBI director must have a minimum two-year tenure. In the past, directors like R K Raghavan, Vijay Shankar, and Ashwani Kumar saw their terms extended until superannuation. Sood’s tenure will now continue beyond May 24, 2025, subject to the five-year cap under the amended law.