M Nageswara Rao had joined the CBI as a joint director in 2016.
M Nageswara Rao, who is holding the post of interim CBI director, was on Tuesday promoted to the rank of an additional director by the government.
A 1986-batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre, Mr Rao's name was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the union cabinet.
The promotion of Mr Rao, who took over as interim CBI director amid a midnight drama on October 24, came after the centre's intervention in the public spat between CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, which reached court.
Mr Rao was not considered for the rank of additional director in November 2016 as well as when a review of this batch took place in April 2018.
He had joined the CBI as a joint director in 2016.
The Supreme Court has asked Mr Rao not to take any policy decisions until it hears the petition related to the feud between Mr Verma and Mr Asthana.
Mr Rao took over as interim CBI director following a midnight government order giving him Mr Verma's powers.
He affixed signatures on over dozen transfer orders, mainly of those officers who were probing Mr Asthana, besides ordering search and sealing of CBI Director's office.