That the ACC chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee chose Mishra as the next CBI chief assumes significance in view of the fact that the premier investigative agency has been handling many politically sensitive cases. Mishra is at present special director of the CBI and will replace PC Sharma, who retires on December 6.
Mishra, a 1968 batch IAS officer, of the Orissa cadre has been associated with the CBI for a long time. His name was believed to be recommended by the outgoing CBI chief who has been accused of using the investigative agency for the benefit of the ruling party by the Opposition leaders.
In Parliament, there have been heated debate on the role of the CBI between the Opposition led by the Congress and the National Democratic Alliance constituents.
The most significant case being handled by the CBI is related to the demolition of the Babri mosque in which the CBI dropped the charges of conspiracy against all senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani, Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.
Similarly, the CBI is also assigned the job of conducting probe into the bribery case involving Dilip Singh Judeo and the Rs 30,000 crore stamp paper scam.
Just before the Assembly elections, the Congress had accused the government of using the CBI to bro-beat the Opposition particularly in connection with the Judeo case.
What appears to have worried the Congress is the assumption that the CBI is working on a theory to describe the Judeo episode a
