Indian Bureaucracy News, New Delhi, September 04, 2025 | The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has inducted two Indian Revenue Service officers into its supervisory ranks. Shri Vedant Kanwar IRS (IT, 2016), presently Under Secretary in CBDT, and Shri Kavinder Singh Negi IRS (IT, 2015), Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, will now serve as Superintendents of Police (SP) in the agency for three years and four years respectively. Both appointments are on deputation, effective from the date they assume charge, until further orders.
The latest inductions continue a trend of policy shifts over the past decade. The practice of bringing in non-IPS officers began in 2014, when an IRS officer was deputed as DIG. Subsequent years saw officers from the Income Tax, Audit & Accounts, Defence Accounts and Telecom services take on SP or DIG responsibilities in the agency. A 2022 order of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) formalised this trajectory by approving six SP appointments, of which four were from non-police services. As ThePrint reported at the time (Madhuparna Das, 6 April 2022), the order signalled that CBI officers need not be career policemen, as long as they were vested with police powers under government notification.
The policy shift was justified by the government on grounds of rising financial and cyber-enabled offences requiring domain expertise in taxation, accounts and technology. The shift towards non-IPS induction had precedents since 2014, but the pace accelerated after 2022, when the DoPT approved four non-police officers as SPs in a single order (Credit: ThePrint, Madhuparna Das). This was the first clear signal that the government intended to treat officers from revenue, telecom and accounts services as eligible for police powers within the CBI. For supporters, the move recognised that investigations had become multidisciplinary, requiring expertise beyond traditional policing. Critics, however, saw it as a sudden departure from established norms. IPS officers pointed out that under the Code of Criminal Procedure, only trained police officers are typically authorised to investigate and arrest, and warned that replacing this foundation with lateral entrants risked weakening procedural rigour.
Cadre rules have since been adjusted further. In October 2023, the government amended deputation norms to allow IPS officers with five years’ service to join the CBI, aligning it with agencies such as R&AW and NIA (ET Bureau, 18 October 2023). The following year, DoPT revised the staffing structure of the agency to increase the number of non-IPS officers eligible for SP-level deputation from 15 to 18 out of 122 posts (From the Corridors, TS Bureau, 10 December 2024).
These moves have not been without friction. Writing in the Deccan Chronicle (Dilip Cherian), observers noted disquiet within IPS ranks that the expansion of lateral entries—especially from the IRS, which already has a presence in the Enforcement Directorate and Serious Fraud Investigation Office—may erode opportunities for career police officers in the CBI. The concern reflects a deeper question about how far India’s premier investigative agency should diversify beyond its traditional IPS-dominated structure.
With Shri Kanwar and Shri Negi’s induction, the CBI’s cadre mix continues to evolve. Officials frame the change as a response to investigative complexity, while the debate over the balance between specialist expertise and policing tradition remains open.
IndianBureaucracy.com wishes both the officers the very best.