New Delhi: Hearing Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Verma’s petition challenging his forced leave and the appointment of M Nageshwar Rao as interim agency chief, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday asked the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to complete its inquiry against Verma in two weeks, while directing Rao not to take any policy decision meanwhile.
The court said CVC inquiry against Verma would be time-bound and monitored by former SC judge AK Patnaik.
“The report has to be placed before the Supreme Court within two weeks. M. Nageshwar Rao, who was asked to stand in as interim CBI chief, cannot take any policy decision. He can only be administrative head. All decisions taken by him since he took charge around 2am on Tuesday night — which includes the mass transfer of officers investigating Mr Asthana — have to be submitted in court in a sealed envelope,” a bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said.
The court posted the next date of hearing on November 12.
Verma had filed the writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution seeking redressal for “violation of his fundamental rights.” He has challenged the order that divested him of his duties.
“The exercise of power by the impugned orders has been to bypass the mandate of the high powered committee which appointed me. Every CBI director has a fixed tenure of two years secured under law. This is precisely to secure the independence of CBI, but the same has been violated by the impugned orders,” Verma said in his petition in the SC.
Verma averred that CBI as an institution must be away from government influence. He alluded to government interference in sensitive cases.
“CBI ought to be insulated from the government. The present actions give serious credence to the requirement that the CBI be given independence from Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which seriously hinders the functioning of the institution,” Verma added.
Verma and his deputy Special Director Rakesh Asthana have accused each other of taking bribe in an investigation involving controversial Uttar Pradesh (UP)-based meat exporter Moin Qureshi.
Verma’s removal criticised
Taking note of the infighting, the government on Tuesday midnight divested Verma and Asthana of all duties and appointed Rao as the agency’s interim chief.
Asthana has also challenged in High Court (HC) the government’s decision to send him on leave over allegations of bribery.
Welcoming the SC order, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said it was a “very positive development.”
“All officers of the CBI, particularly the top two officers, like Caesar’s wife, must be above suspicion. The government has no interest for or against any individual. The government is interested in only maintaining the professionalism, the image and the institutional integrity of CBI. The recent developments have eroded the credibility of CBI and CVC,” Jaitley told media.
He said the CVC inquiry will ensure that truth comes out. “The truth coming out is in the larger interest of India. The Supreme Court’s direction setting a two-week time frame would further strengthen the fairness criteria of the investigations, and the appointment of a retired judge would ensure a fair inquiry,” Jaitley emphasised.
Former Attorney General of India Soli Sorabjee described the court order on Verma’s plea as “very sensible and pragmatic.”
Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday led a massive protest at CBI Headquarters in Delhi against removal of Verma as agency chief. He later walked into a police station and courted arrest.
Gandhi described midnight removal of CBI director as “illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate.”
“The removal of Alok Verma was a disgraceful and unconstitutional attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to block an investigation into the Rafale fighter jet deal. Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have destroyed every institution that exists in our country,” Gandhi said addressing party workers at the rally.
He asked the government to cancel its previous order appointing Rao as acting chief for the agency and reinstate Verma.
“PM can run, he can hide but in the end, truth will be revealed. Removing the CBI director will not help. PM Modi acted against the CBI chief out of panic. They can arrest me as many times as they want but truth cannot be suppressed,” Gandhi added.
Congress leader Ashok Ghelot said the party organised protest marches outside CBI offices across the country and would continue the agitation until Verma was reinstated.
