New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) Taking over charge of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is passing through troublesome times, Rishi Kumar Shukla here on Monday stressed the need to "focus on professional skills".
"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," Shukla said after taking over as the CBI director.
As a full-fledged director, Shukla, who was taken out of semi-retirement job as chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Housing Corporation in Bhopal after serving as the state police chief for three years, said the CBI has to fulfil the expectations of public.
Having undergone a bypass surgery a few months ago, Shukla was removed as the MP police chief by the new Congress government led by Kamal Nath. He was elevated to the CBI top post on Saturday by the Prime Minister-led selection Committee, beating five other candidates.
The CBI top post was vacant since Alok Verma was divested of powers and sent on leave on October 23, 2018 following a bitter clash with his deputy Rakesh Asthana. Verma was reinstated by the Supreme Court only to be removed again by the PM-led selection panel on January 10. There was an arrangement for an interim director both times.
The senior-most among the 1983 batch of Indian Police Service officers, he worked in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) under then Director Ajit Doval -- now National Security Advisor -- but has no experience in anti-corruption cases and prior experience of having served in the organisation, a mandatory criteria for a CBI director as per Supreme Court judgments.
Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, who is a member of the selection panel along with the Prime Minister and the Chief Justice of India, had raised this (inexperience) point while opposing his selection.
During his 35-year-tenure in the IPS, Shukla has not been involved in any high profile cases but will now be heading the investigation into $2 billion fraud at Punjab National Bank involving fugitive diamond billionaire Nirav Modi, loan defaults by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, and police firing on anti-Vedanta protesters in Tamil Nadu.
A post-graduate in philosophy and decorated with the President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2007 and Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 1999, Shukla took charge on a day the CBI approached the Supreme Court over the Kolkata face-off on Sunday between a team of the agency and the state police, alleging its probe into a Ponzi scheme scam was being hindered and its officers were being harassed.
He is also a practitioner of astrology.
(This story has not been edited by Social News XYZ staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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