india

Updated: Feb 02, 2019 11:31 IST

The second meeting of the selection committee to choose the next chief of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) remained inconclusive on Friday after one of its members, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, declined to accept some names suggested by the government, people familiar with the development said.

Lack of a consensus in the three-member panel over candidates in line for the top job at the agency may prompt the government to announce the new CBI director in a 2-1 majority decision as early as on Saturday, the people said on condition of anonymity. If that happens, Kharge may call a press conference to present his side of the case, HT learns.

The Prime Minister heads the panel in which Kharge, as leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha, and chief justice Ranjan Gogoi are the other two members.

At Friday’s meeting, after the government submitted 30 names for the post of CBI director and suggested three or four candidates, Kharge insisted on receiving another pruned list of the five top Indian Police Service (IPS) officers in terms of seniority, integrity and experience in handling anti-corruption probes, the people cited above said.

The 30 names were picked from an earlier list of 79 officers belonging to top four batches – 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985 – of the Indian Police Service (IPS) that were submitted to the panel at an inconclusive January 24 meeting. On that day, Kharge had insisted on getting detailed background information on all 79 shortlisted officers.

The post of CBI director has been lying vacant since January 10 when the PM-led panel which also comprises Kharge and Supreme Court justice AK Sikri, who was nominated by chief justice Gogoi to participate in the meeting, removed Alok Verma from the helm of the agency.