The government has sought more time to decide on the next director for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and till then, the current additional director would be in charge.

Quashing speculations about a possible extension to outgoing Director Rishi Kumar Shukla, the appointment committee of the Cabinet ordered Gujarat cadre officer Praveen Sinha to take charge. The order said, “Praveen Sinha, Additional Director, CBI, shall with immediate effect look after the duties of Director CBI, vice Shri Rishi Kumar Shukla, IPS (MP:83), till the appointment of new Director CBI, or until further orders.”

Sinha is a 1988-batch officer of Gujarat cadre who has been leading the CBI’s attempts to extradite Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi. He has also probed the coal scam cases.

Sinha had also headed the task force which overhauled the CBI manual after 15 years. The manual is like the Bible for all CBI officers as it lays down SOPs for registering PEs, FIRs and further investigations

The meeting of the Prime Minister-led panel to select the next CBI director is yet to be called. The PM, Chief Justice of India and Leader of Opposition make the selection from a panel of officers who have previous experience in the CBI, EOW or similar investigation wings.

Top contenders for the post right now are BSF DG Rakesh Asthana, NIA DG YC Modi, CISF DG Subodh Kunar Jaiswal and ITBP DG SS Deswal.

Meanwhile, Shukla bid farewell to the CBI on Wednesday after a controversy-free tenure of 2 years. CBI officials credited Shukla for steering the agency away from the controversies which had erupted because of clashes between then director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana.