Karnal Singh unlikely to get extension as ED chief

Enforcement Directorate Chief Karnal Singh will be retiring on Friday but the government has not opened its cards on whether he will get an extension or who will succeed him.

Sources indicated that he may not get an extension and government may appoint an interim chief like it did before Singh joined the ED as a full-time director. For two years before Singh was appointed full-time Director, the ED was run by interim chief.

The power corridors are abuzz with speculation that the 1984-batch IPS officer will not get an extension as he is perceived to be close to CBI Director Alok Verma, who was sent on leave by the government following an ugly spat with his second-in-command Rakesh Asthana.

The government is also said to be unhappy with the ED Director for his support to his junior officer Rajeshwar Singh when the latter took on Revenue Secretary Hansmukh Adhia accusing him of derailing his career prospects.

Singh had forwarded his junior's letter levelling serious allegations against Adhia to the government. However, Rajeshwar later withdrew the letter and apologised.

The ED had also issued a press statement in support of Rajeshwar after a report prepared by RAW was submitted in Supreme Court in a petition against the latter. Officers believe that Rajeshwar may also face the axe soon.

Singh's last days in ED is said to be very busy as on Thursday the agency filed a supplementary chargesheet against former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in Aircel-Maxis case.

It came amid claims by a section, including BJP MP Subramanian Swamy, that government was not keen on going ahead with charging Chidambaram.

Also on Thursday, he ordered the searches in Amnesty International India's office in Bengaluru. The searches began at around 2 PM, sources said adding investigators seized computers and laptops.