On Thursday, A high-powered selection committee is planned to meet at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg in the national capital for the appointment of a new Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director. The meeting comes after the panel ousted Alok Verma from the post earlier this month. Prime Minister Modi heads the three-member panel. The other two members are Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and the Leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress. Kharge had given a dissent note against Verma's removal.
Previously, on January 10, the committee had met in the national capital. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi had nominated second senior-most judge AK Sikri as his representation in the panel a day before. The CJI reportedly recused himself from the meeting since he was part of the bench which authored the Supreme Court judgment to reinstate Verma as CBI chief.
CBI chief Verma and his second-in-command Special Director Rakesh Asthana were sent on the forced leave over two months ago in October Verma later had challenged his ouster from the CBI in the Supreme Court. Asthana too approached the Delhi High Court for quashing of an FIR registered by the CBI, reportedly at the instance of Verma, in an alleged corruption case. A decision in this regard is pending in the high court. Verma's two-year fixed tenure as CBI director ends on January 31.
However, Justice Sikri will have an enormous role to play in the final decision as Kharge had passionately opposed the government when Verma was sent on leave in October 2018. Kharge had demanded answers from the Prime Minister stating that the decision was made without consulting other members of the panel that selected him. Kharge was part of the three-member panel headed by PM Modi that had selected Verma as CBI chief. The then Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar was the other member of the selection committee.
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