The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for re-appointment of Sushil Chandra as CBDT chairman from 1 June to 31 May 2018

Senior bureaucrat Sushil Chandra was on Monday given one-year extension till May 2018 as chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

He had taken over as chief of CBDT, the apex policy making body of the income tax department, on 1 November last year.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for re-appointment of Chandra as CBDT chairman for a period of one year from 1 June to 31 May 2018, an order issued by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said.

Chandra, an IIT graduate, is a 1980 batch officer of Indian Revenue Service (income tax cadre). Two other CBDT members—Nishi Singh and Gopal Mukherjee—were in contention for the post. Now the two would retire before Chandra’ fresh tenure ends.

Singh (member—personnel and vigilance) and Mukherjee (member—investigation) would have got a short-tenure of about three months and about eight months respectively as the CBDT chairperson.

It is understood that the decision to extend the incumbent’s term was taken in order to provide continuity as the CBDT is at the forefront of combating black money and ushering in a taxpayer-friendly regime. The CBDT is headed by a chairman and can have a maximum of six members.