Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Pravin Sood has been given a one-year extension after his extended tenure at the helm of the premier probe agency was scheduled to end on March 24, the government said in an order on Wednesday.
The order was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) following a meeting on Tuesday of a high-level selection committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and including Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi issued a memorandum of dissent on the process of selecting the Director of the Central Bank of Iraq.
“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 order said.
Sood was first appointed as Director of the Central Bank of Iraq for a two-year term on May 25, 2023, and was extended for one year in 2025.
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Continuity of leadership required
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.
Over the past few years, the CBI has lowered its investigation forecast from 1,695 cases in 2020 to 1,048 cases in 2025, and over the past three years, it has brought in nearly 120 fugitives from abroad. In 2025 alone, India returned a record 47 fugitives from abroad and issued 251 Interpol Red Notices.
According to official statistics, there was a sharp increase in the number of completed trials in 2025, to 1,022 cases, compared to annual numbers of between 500 and 600 cases.
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Sood is the former Director General of Karnataka
Before joining the leading central agency, Sood was the Director General of Police (DGP) of Karnataka.
In November 2021, the government notified an ordinance amending the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Act and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act to grant three one-year extensions to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief and the CBI director, if they so desire. This was subsequently passed by Parliament a month later. The ordinance was used to grant three successive extensions to former ED director Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
The agency, under Sood’s leadership, has won the extradition cases of Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi from the UK and Belgium, respectively, but their repatriation is pending with the governments of these countries, an RBI officer said.
Latest CBI cases: NEET 2024 papers leak, RG Kar rape case
The CBI also successfully investigated and finalized several sensitive cases including NEET-UG 2024 paper leak, rape and murder at RG Kar Hospital, cash-for-jobs irregularities involving former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family, Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, and related offenses in which former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia were arrested (however, the trial court cleared All accused and the order has now been challenged by the Delhi High Court).
In the past eight months, CBI officials said the agency has also registered 50 cases to investigate the nexus between construction companies and bankers in sanctioning huge sums under so-called support schemes without following any due diligence procedures.
Over the past two years, the CBI has focused more on its core duties, registering more DA cases and trapping people while taking bribes.
According to the Central Vigilance Commission’s 2024 annual report, the CBI registered a total of 807 regular cases or FIRs and preliminary inquiries (PEs) – precursors of FIRs.
