CBI’s supremacy battle in Supreme Court today
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court is likely to take on Friday a decision on whether the move to strip Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma of his responsibilities was legal, even as Opposition parties threatened to launch an agitation against the government which, they say, is undermining the country’s institutions.
Friday’s hearing, in addition to a petition by Verma, will also include a petition filed by nonprofit organisation Common Cause, which approached the Supreme Court on Thursday with a request to assign a special investigation team (SIT) to probe corruption charges against CBI special director Rakesh Asthana.
Verma and Asthana have been locked in a feud with both accusing the other of corruption, a situation that the government has cited as the basis for a dramatic temporary order issued overnight
on Tuesday to send them both off duty.
The order was backed by a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) recommendation to divest Verma of his powers since allegations were made against him by Asthana. Both petitions – Verma’s as well as the one filed by Common Cause – seek the removal of Asthana from CBI and the quashing of the order issued to appoint M Nageswar Rao as interim chief.
The petition by Common Cause, filed by advocate Prasanth Bhushan, said the CVC’s October 23 recommendation by which Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) divested Verma of his powers were for “malafide reasons” and should be quashed. The “chain of events shows that Verma is being victimised for taking action against Asthana, a Gujarat cadre officer, and also for entertaining complaint against the top functionaries of the present government,” stated the petition.
In light of the serious cases pending against Asthana, the petition said, the officer should be removed.
Verma, in his petition filed on Wednesday, has challenged the grounds on which he was sidelined and said the move was “patently illegal” .