Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the ‘illegal’ removal of CBI chief Alok Verma, 10 days after he and his deputy were divested of all powers by the government in a midnight order.
“The act is, completely illegal, arbitrary, punitive, without jurisdiction”, Kharge, who is the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, said.
The Congress leader in his petition said that he, being on the three- member committee that selects the CBI chief, should be heard before any order is passed in the case. The CBI director is appointed by a panel comprising the prime minister, the chief justice and the leader of the opposition.
“The tenure and term of the CBI director is protected and even the process of transfer cannot be effected without the previous consent of the Committee,” he added.
The Congress leader said it was in the national and public interest to protect and maintain the institutional sanctity and integrity of India’s premier investigating agency.
Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana were divested of all charge in a 2.30am order on October 24 as a culmination of the internal feud in the agency. Nageshwar Rao was appointed the interim chief.
Verma challenged the government order within hours of being stripped of his powers as the agency’s boss.
The court has set a two-week deadline for the completion of CVC probe against Verma and asked a retired judge to monitor it.
While the government said the court order would ‘ensure that highest standard of fairness are maintained’, the opposition Congress interpreted the direction to imply that the court didn’t trust the corruption watchdog CVC enough.