Karnataka Police Chief Praveen Sood was on Sunday named as the next director of the CBI by the government. He will replace Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, whose tenure as the CBI director comes to an end on 25 May.
The CBI chief is picked by a committee comprising the Indian prime minister, the country's chief justice, and the leader of opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) for a term of two years.
However, the CBI director can remain in the chair for a maximum of five years if the PM, CJI, and LoP agree on an extension.
While Sood has been handpicked to lead the CBI by a committee that also included Congress' Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who serves as the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, he has been criticized by India's main opposition party in the past.
In March, Sood gained widespread attention after Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar alleged that he was helping the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in settling scores with its political opponents.
Shivakumar even demanded the arrest of Karnataka's police chief, alleging that he was registering false cases against state Congress politicians.
Notably, Congress breached the BJP's only citadel in southern India on Saturday, securing an emphatic victory in the Karnataka state assembly elections.
The incumbent BJP could only register wins in 66 constituencies, while Congress bagged 135 seats in the 224-member state legislature, the biggest triumph for a political party in Karnataka in 34 years.