Ranjit Sinha to be appointed new CBI director

The government is said to have cleared the name of Ranjit Sinha for the post of director Central Bureau of Investigation.

A formal announcement is expected soon. This may bring down the curtain on the most sought after appointment, as all eyes are set on the successor of CBI chief A P Singh, who demits office on November 30.

Since there were efforts to bring the CBI under the office of the Lokpal -- to make it completely independent -- everybody has had their fingers crossed. The bill also expected to come up in Parliament.

Delhi's Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar had filed a petition in the Central Administrative Tribunal challenging the decision of the selection panel. The selectors had dropped his name from the list of probable. Though there is no stay in the case, the CAT has issued a notice to the government. The selection committee is headed by Central Vigilance Commissioner Pradeep Kumar and comprised of the cabinet secretary, home secretary, secretary personnel and CBI director.

Ranjit Sinha is a 1974 batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre. He is currently the director general of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police and is senior-most in the panel of three officers who were under consideration. Ranjit Sinha had an eventful stint in the CBI and has solved many corruption cases.