Kharge term CBI interim chief appointment as illegal, writes to Modi for new CBI chief

Terming as "illegal" the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as the CBI's interim director, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded that a meeting of the selection committee be convened immediately to appoint a new chief of the probe agency.

Kharge, who is part of the prime minister-headed three-member panel that removed Alok Verma as CBI chief despite the Congress leader's dissent note, alleged that the government is scared of the CBI being led by an "independent" director.

"The government should come clean by releasing the CVC report, the report of Justice Patnaik and the minutes of the meeting held on January 10, 2019, so that the public can draw its own conclusion on this matter," he said in his letter to the prime minister, while accusing the government of violating the law in appointing Rao. "The appointment of an interim director is illegal and against section 4A (1) and 4A (3) of the DSPE Act.

"The actions of the government in this matter indicate that it is scared of having the CBI headed by an independent director," he said Kharge said the government should establish its bonafides in fighting corruption and ensuring the integrity of the premier investigating agency of the country by convening an immediate meeting of the selection committees as per Section 4A(1) of the DSPE Act to appoint a director without any further delay. "Any delay would further erode the faith the public has placed in this institution and the credibility of this institution," he said.

"It is unfortunate that the manipulative actions of the government are directly responsible for causing deep embarrassment to the judiciary. "The fact that the government did not even issue a reasoned order while removing Alok Verma led to the unfair situation where a member of the judiciary has been forced to defend the decision taken indirectly," Kharge said while referring to the comments made by Justice (retd) Patnaik on the CVC report.

"The government seems to be worried about something and in a tearing hurry to dispose a man from his office, that an irrational decision was taken to transfer Alok Verma as DG Fire Services even after his superannuation," he said.

The Congress leader alleged the actions of the government in handling the appointments in CBI have been consistently against the letter and spirit of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. Kharge alleged that Alok Verma was removed on January 10, 2019, without following either the due process of law or the principles of natural justice. He added that in each of the instances, his advice as a member of the opposition has been consistently sidelined by the government.

Barely two days after the Supreme Court reinstated him, Verma was Thursday last removed as CBI director by the high-powered committee headed by PM Modi on charges of corruption and dereliction of duty, in an unprecedented action in the central probe agency's 55-year history. There were eight charges against Verma in the CVC report presented before the committee that also comprised Kharge and Justice A K Sikri, appointed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi as his nominee.

(With inputs from agencies.)