Verma removed, puts in papers
JULY 31, 2017: Technically Mr Verma stands superannuated. Was serving the government as director, CBI, till January 31, 2019 as it was a fixed tenure role. Premature retirement will have no bearing on any prosecution. He can be prosecuted and chargesheeted anytime till four years.
Two days after the Supreme Court reinstated former CBI director Alok Verma as the CBI chief, a highpowered selection committee comprising of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Justice A.K. Sikri and leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge transferred Verma out of the CBI in a split verdict 2:1. Verma, whose fixed tenure of two years was to end on January 31, is the first chief in the 55-years of the CBI’s history to face such action, officials said. He was posted as Director General Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards, under the Union Home Ministry. Refusing to take charge Alok Verma quit on Friday.
In his resignation letter, Mr Verma said, “Natural justice was scuttled and the entire process was turned upside down in ensuring that the undersigned is removed from the post of the Director. The selection committee did not consider the fact that the entire CVC report is premised on charges alluded by a complainant who is presently under investigation by the CBI,” Verma said in a veiled reference to Special Director Rakesh Asthana. He called the situation a moment of “collective introspection”. “As a career bureaucrat, it is the idea of my integrity that has been the driving force for four decades in public service,” Mr Verma said in his resignation letter.
On Friday, within hours of resuming control as interim CBI director, M. Nageswara Rao reversed all the transfer orders issued by Verma on Wednesday and Thursday.
■ UNDER INDIAN law, the CBI director’s post is protected. Only a select panel can appoint him, remove him or take other similar action against him. This panel comprises the Chief Justice of India, or a nominee; the Prime Minister of India; and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, or the leader of the largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha.