New Delhi, February 4: Rishi Shukla, an IPS of 1983 batch from Madhya Pradesh cadre, who has been appointed as the new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has taken charge as the CBI chief today, Monday. As per the norm, Shukla will manage the post for two years. However, he takes over the CBI at a time when the premier investigating agency is facing unprecedented crisis. Mamata Banerjee’s Dharna Enters Day 2: CBI Plans to Drag State Government to Supreme Court, TMC to Raise Matter in Parliament.

The CBI vs CBI incident, which involved a bitter episode between former CBI director Alok Verma and top officer Rakesh Asthana, infamously came to be known as the fight between number 1 vs number 2. The case spilled the beans of the infighting in the CBI out in the open. The case, which made frontpage news and headlines, dominated the CBI discourse and raised questions on the working and autonomy of the CBI. M Nageshwar Rao then took over as an interim chief of the CBI. CBI vs CBI: Top Boss Alok Verma Moves Supreme Court Against Order On Him Being Sent On Leave; More Officials Transferred.

According to a tweet by ANI, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the appointment of Shukla as the new CBI Director for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office.

Shukla was the Former Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police and is currently the chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation. His appointment comes a day after the Supreme Court asked the Centre to immediately appoint a CBI director.

On Friday, the top Court had said it was 'averse' to the arrangement of an interim CBI director and the Centre should 'immediately' appoint a regular chief of the probe agency. The Court had observed that the post of CBI director is 'sensitive' and 'important, and it was not good to keep an interim director of the agency for a longer period.

Shukla will have his hands full and his appointment is akin to baptism by fire. On Sunday itself, four CBI officials, who tried to interrogate Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar in Saradha chit funds scam case, were arrested by Kolkata Police and later released.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has sit on a dharna accusing that the Central government has been using agencies like CBI to create fear and hamper democracy. The CBI vs Kolkata Police and CBI vs Mamata Banerjee has been trending on social media and the Kolkata police is adamant on not letting CBI touch Rajeev Kumar. The new CBI director has his task cut out when it comes to facing issues affecting the CBI.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 04, 2019 12:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).