Govt cancels NIA IG Sanjeev Kumar Singh's one-year extension in less than a month

In a u-turn within a month, the government on Friday cancelled the one-year extension of IPS officer Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Inspector General in the National Investigation 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 1987 batch IPS officer from Madhya Pradesh.

Singh, who also doubled up as the Chief Spokesman of the NIA, an organisation that came into existence after the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike, was given extension by the ACC on June 22 for a period of one year.

However, Friday's order issued by the Department of Personnel said "it is conveyed that the competent authority in the Appointments Committee of Cabinet has not approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for extension of central deputation" for Singh.

It has also asked the Home Ministry to relieve Singh from the post immediately.

The June 22 order had said the ACC has approved the proposal of the Home Ministry for extension of Singh for a period for one year beyond July 5, 2016, in relaxation of IPS tenure policy.

During his tenure, Singh had emerged as the face of NIA and he handled various sensitive cases including the Burdhwan blasts, Pathankot terror strike, growth of ISIS modules in the country and Udhampur terror attack.