Kumar, Shankar

New Delhi, July 31: The CBI was headless for a few hours for the first time in its history because of hectic lobbying by the Samajwadi Party, which in the end could not get its nominee in but did succeed in vetoing the front runner.

Himachal Pradesh director-general of police Ashwani Kumar was tonight named the new CBI director, nudging ahead of the favourite, M.L. Sharma.

Outgoing director Vijay Shankar had delayed the moment of handing over charge by nearly two hours, hoping for a government order announcing the name of his successor. But the announcement came hours after he had relinquished charge.

The customary photo-op — the outgoing director vacating the chair for the man-in-waiting amidst hugs and handshakes — had to be given the go-by as the Samajwadi Party, the government’s new ally, lobbied late into the evening to get its own man in.

The officer the Samajwadis were pushing for was not even on the final panel of three from which the CBI director was to be chosen.

“Since there is a laid-down procedure for appointment of the CBI director, there was no way the government could have accommodated the Samajwadi request. Till the last minute, there were negotiations going on, which caused the delay. They had to reach a compromise with the Samajwadi Party putting its foot down on the favourite in the panel, CBI special director M.L. Sharma,” an official revealed.

Shankar, the outgoing director, had recommended Sharma’s name from the final panel, sources said.

The third name on the panel was that of Karnataka director-general of police, R. Srikumar.

Ashwani Kumar, a 1973 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre officer, is to retire in 2010. The CBI director has to have a mandatory tenure of two years, according to the directions of the Supreme Court.

In the past, there have been instances when the government had not announced the name of the new director but the CBI chief’s chair was not allowed to remain vacant for even a minute.

“The government always issued orders that till the final appointment was made, the second-in-charge would officiate as the director. Today, even that order did not come. In that case, special director M.L. Sharma would have officiated as director,” a senior CBI official said.

When the previous director, U.S. Mishra, retired, the government had directed the second seniormost official, J.K. Dutt, to officiate. Dutt, who is now director-general of the National Security Guard, was in charge for six days before Vijay Shankar was appointed.

In 2001, when R.K. Raghavan was to retire as director on April 30, the government asked special director P.C. Sharma to officiate. Later, Sharma himself was appointed to the post.