The Union government on Wednesday extended the tenure of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Pravin Sood by another year, beyond his current tenure which was scheduled to end on May 24, according to a government order.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, based on the recommendations of the Selection Committee, has approved the extension of the tenure of Praveen Sood, IPS (Karnataka Cadre, 1986 Batch) as Director of CBI, for a period of one year after May 24, 2026,” the Personnel Ministry said in an order.
The decision to extend Sood’s term was taken at a meeting of the selection committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and including Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday. Gandhi made a strong note of dissent over the process of selecting the CBI director, saying he did not want to be part of a “biased exercise”.
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Sood, 61, was appointed to the post on May 25, 2023 for a two-year term, which was extended by a year by the high-level committee in May last year. This is his second extension in office.
The high-level committee decided to give the CBI continuity of command so that the agency’s ongoing anti-corruption activities are not affected, people familiar with the development said.
Sood is credited with reducing the stay in the premier agency’s investigation from 1,695 cases in 2020 to 1,048 cases in 2025, with prosecutions in 1,022 cases completed in 2025, people familiar with the matter said.
Its extension came under the provisions of the 2021 Act, following amendments in the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, which governs the functioning of the CBI.
