K’taka DG Praveen Sood Confirmed As New CBI Director

Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood has been named as the next Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director.

Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Sood is a 1986-batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre. He was appointed as the State DGP three years ago and is an alumnus of IIT-Delhi. He was to retire in May 2024, but will now get a two-year fixed tenure and be in office till May 2025 at least.

Sood’s name was finalised on Saturday by a three-member panel comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, and Leader of the Opposition (Congress) in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The selection meeting over Sood’s appointment interestingly happened on a day when the Congress party won in the Karnataka Assembly polls.

The Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had submitted a dissent note opposing Sood’s candidature on the grounds that he was not part of the pool of IPS officers eligible to serve at DGP level at the Centre. 

In March, senior Congress leader D K Shivkumar lashed out at Sood for being ‘incompetent’ and accused him of being a stooge of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka.

The tenure of present incumbent Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, a 1985-batch IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre, is coming to an end on 25 May.