One Day’s Delay Denied Me Chance to be CBI Director: Rina Mitra

Mitra, despite meeting all criteria for the post, was bumped out of consideration for the post of CBI director.

Rina Mitra, who was in the running to be CBI director, had served in the agency as a superintendent for five years.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Rina Mitra, a 1983-batch IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh-cadre, was denied the chance to create history, and break the proverbial glass ceiling, by becoming the first woman CBI director.

Mitra, despite meeting all criteria for the post, was bumped out of consideration after the selection committee decided to defer its meeting to the day just after her retirement.

After retiring from the Indian police after 35 years of service, she penned her story in The Telegraph to help ‘young men and women who are navigating similar hurdles, dilemmas and choices’.

Mitra disclosed the many hurdles she had to face in her journey, both as a woman and a professional, before finally facing what she called was the ‘last glass ceiling’ she encountered in her profession.

“I did qualify on all parameters to be considered for selection to head the premier investigating body of the country, the CBI... I was indeed the senior-most officer fulfilling all the four essential criteria. However, an easily avoidable delay of just one day in the selection process ensured that I was bumped out of the race and no longer in contention,” Mitra wrote in The Telegraph.

“It forced me to wonder if this was indeed the last glass ceiling I encountered in my professional career,” she added.

Mitra said that her story was not meant to dishearten young officers but rather to inspire them to maintain their integrity of thought and action.

The greater the number of honest people in this world, the more honesty will be appreciated and rewarded in others, she wrote.

“To all those upright and non-partisan officers/individuals serving the country or aspiring to, and those who want to continue to resist temptations of quid pro quo; it only takes a stoic resolve to be duty-bound, and the universe of temptations fades away,” Mitra said.

(With inputs from The Telegraph)