PM-led panel likely to meet on January 24 to appoint new CBI Director

In a two-page letter Khrage to the Prime Minister on Monday, Kharge wrote: “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. The government seems to be in a tearing hurry to dispose a man from his office, that an irrational decision was taken to transfer Verma as DG Fire Services even after superannuation.”

Alok Verma (Picture: PTI)

CBI vs CBI controversy: PM Narendra Modi-led high-powered Selection Committee is likely to meet on January 24 in Delhi to appoint the new CBI Director, sources of news agency PTI said on Wednesday. The Selection Committee includes Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. That meeting earlier saw the removal of Alok Verma as CBI chief, without giving him a hearing, on the basis of the central vigilance commissioner’s report in a 2:1 decision. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Supreme Court judge A.K. Sikri had favoured Verma’s removal while Kharge had dissented. The sources said the government had proposed the meeting on January 21 earlier while Kharge wanted the meeting on January 24 or 25. The January 24 date has been finalised after mutual agreement. The CBI Director post is lying vacant since the expulsion of Alok Verma who later refused to accept the post of Director General Fire Service. Currently, IPS officer M Nageswara Rao is the interim director of the CBI. Kharge also objected to the appointment of an interim director without discussing the matter in the selection committee. In a two-page letter Khrage to the Prime Minister on Monday, Kharge wrote: “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. The government seems to be in a tearing hurry to dispose a man from his office, that an irrational decision was taken to transfer Verma as DG Fire Services even after superannuation.”