1-year extension of NIA IG cancelled in less than a month

New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) In a u-turn within a month,government today cancelled the one year extension of IPSofficer Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Inspector General in the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA). Surprisingly, there is a mention in the fresh order that"competent authority" in the Appointments Committee of Cabinet(ACC) had "not approved" the extension order of Singh, a 1987batch IPS officer from Madhya Pradesh. Singh, who also doubled up as the Chief Spokesman of theNIA, an organisation that came into existence after the 26/11Mumbai terror strike, was given extension by the ACC on June22 for a period of one year. However, today’s order issued by the Department ofPersonnel said "it is conveyed that the competent authority inthe Appointments Committee of Cabinet has not approved theproposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for extension ofcentral deputation" for Singh. It has also asked the Home Ministry to relieve Singh fromthe post immediately. The June 22 order had said the ACC has approved theproposal of the Home Ministry for extension of Singh for aperiod for one year beyond July 5, 2016, in relaxation of IPStenure policy. During his tenure, Singh had emerged as the face of NIAand he handled various sensitive cases including the Burdhwanblasts, Pathankot terror strike, growth of ISIS modules in thecountry and Udhampur terror attack. PTI SKL GSNGSN