Girish Chandra Murmu
IAS, Gujarat cadre, 1985 batch
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (8 Aug 2020 to Nov 2024)
Summary
Appointed J&K L-G about five weeks before his due retirement, and CAG one day after leaving the L-G post. Earlier, in Sep 2013, he was questioned by the CBI in the Ishrat Jahan probe about a recorded meeting he denied attending.
By the numbers
1 day from resigning as Lt Governor to being named CAG
Resigned 5 Aug 2020; named CAG 6 Aug 2020. indianexpress.com
about 36 days before his retirement date when named Lt Governor
Named 25 Oct 2019; Tribune says he was due to retire in November 2019. If he was born on 21 Nov 1959 (inferred from the CAG tenure ending 20 Nov 2024 at 65), retirement fell on 30 Nov 2019, 36 days later. The exact date is unconfirmed (RTI queued). tribuneindia.com
4 years from Joint Secretary to Secretary
Joint Secretary Apr 2015 to Secretary Mar 2019. indianexpress.com
The rise, step by step
Each step is solid where two sources carry it, a hairline where one does.
One report
Joins IAS, Gujarat cadre.
Documented
According to the CBI's Ishrat Jahan chargesheet (as reported by TOI, Jul 2013), suspended IPS officer G.L. Singhal secretly recorded a Nov 2011 meeting and told the CBI that Murmu, then Secretary to the Chief Minister, was present; the CBI described it as a meeting held to sabotage the investigation. Murmu later denied being part of any such meeting (IE, Sep 2013).
One report
Questioned by the CBI for more than two hours about the Singhal recordings. He denied being part of the meeting or any strategy to derail the investigation (CBI sources, as reported).
One report
Moves to the Centre as Joint Secretary, Department of Expenditure; later Additional Secretary.
One report
Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services (Indradhanush plan for public sector banks).
One report
Special Secretary, Department of Revenue.
One report
Secretary, Department of Expenditure.
Documented
Appointed first Lieutenant Governor of the new Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, a month before he was due to retire in November 2019; sworn in 31 Oct 2019.
One report
Resigns as J&K L-G, after public remarks on elections and restoring 4G that the Indian Express reported were seen as contrary to the Centre's position.
Documented
Named Comptroller and Auditor General of India, a day after resigning; assumes office 8 Aug 2020.
Cases on the way up
Ishrat Jahan encounter investigation (2004 killing; CBI probe from 2011)
- Role
- Principal Secretary to the CM; questioned by the CBI on 21 Sep 2013 about a recorded Nov 2011 meeting that the CBI said was held to sabotage the probe; he denied attending it
- Outcome
- The CBI's 2013 chargesheet named seven police officers (Pandey, Vanzara, Amin, Singhal, Barot, Parmar, Chaudhary); Murmu was not among them. The Gujarat government declined prosecution sanction for the last three, and the special CBI court discharged them on 31 Mar 2021.
- Where it stands
- All police accused discharged. Special CBI court, Ahmedabad, discharged G.L. Singhal, Tarun Barot and Anaju Chaudhary on 31 Mar 2021 after the Gujarat government refused prosecution sanction; earlier discharges included P.P. Pandey (2018).
What courts and officials said
TOI reported that in the chargesheet G.L. Singhal gave evidence of a Nov 2011 meeting attended by, among others, "Secretary to the chief minister, Girish Murmu", which the CBI described as held to sabotage investigations. This is the agency's and Singhal's account, not a court finding. Murmu denied being part of any such meeting when questioned in Sep 2013.
The other side
- G.C. Murmu (as reported, Sep 2013)
- Murmu and A.K. Sharma (IPS) "denied being part of any meeting at Trivedi's office or any strategy to derail the investigation, sources in the CBI said." indianexpress.com
Documents
Order President's Secretariat communique: G.C. Murmu sworn in as CAG, Aug 2020
Shri Girish Chandra Murmu was sworn in as the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India. He made and subscribed to the oath of office before the President. Shri Girish Chandra Murmu will have a tenure upto 20.11.2024.
Sources
- tribuneindia.com
- timesofindia.indiatimes.com
- indianexpress.com
- indianexpress.com
- pib.gov.in
- pib.gov.in
- indiatoday.in
- newindianexpress.com
These are documented facts placed side by side. Nothing here asserts or implies wrongdoing by any officer. Acquittals, dismissed petitions and clean chits are recorded alongside adverse findings. Every source was opened and checked on Oct 2026.
Photo: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, GODL-India