The Central government, on Wednesday, extended by a year the tenure of CBI Director Praveen Sood as no consensus on his successor could be reached.
The decision to this effect was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, official sources said.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the selection committee for the appointment of a new CBI director. The meeting, held at the PMO, was attended by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi along with other government officials.
However, no consensus could be reached on the issue.
Sood, a 1986-batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre, would have completed his two-year term on May 24.
The officer, who also served as DGP in Karnataka, took over as the new CBI director in May 2023 for a period of two years.
He replaced Subodh Jaiswal, who was heading the premier probe agency at that point of time.
The CBI director is appointed by the Union government on the recommendation of a three-member appointment committee, which comprises the LoP in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. The prime minister heads it.
In 2019, the Supreme Court had directed that no officer with less than a tenure of six months remaining can be considered for the post of CBI director.