Judge who voted to remove CBI chief says no to govt offer

JUSTICE SIKRI IS THE 2ND SENIOR-MOST JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT

NEW DELHI: Justice AK Sikri on Sunday withdrew his consent to a government offer to nominate him for president/member in the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

The government is understood to have recommended Supreme Court Justice Sikri’s name for CSAT late last year.

Taking note of the development, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet that “when the scales of justice are tampered with, anarchy reigns”.

Sikri’s consent was “taken orally for a vacancy” in the Commonwealth tribunal, sources said.

Sources close to the second senior-most judge after the Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that the consent was withdrawn Sunday evening when the judge wrote to the Law Ministry, seeking withdrawal of his consent.

The insinuation linking the CSAT assignment with Justice Sikri’s participation in the committee, which decided on the ouster of Alok Verma as CBI director, was wrong, they said.

“Since this consent was taken in the first week of December 2018, it has no connection with the CBI matter for which he became the CJI’S nominee only in January 2019,” the sources added.

They said, “an unjust controversy” has been raised by connecting the two.

“Facts are that sometime in the first week of December 2018, Justice Sikri’s consent was taken orally for a vacancy in Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

“CSAT is meant to decide service disputes between the employees of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Commonwealth Secretariat itself,” sources close to Sikri said.

Justice Sikri was part of the threemember panel along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Congress leader Mallikajurn Kharge which decided on the removal of Verma from the post of CBI Director.

Sikri’s vote proved crucial to remove Verma from his post as Kharge opposed the move strongly while the government was pushing for Verma’s removal.

On the CSAT issue, the sources said, “It is not an assignment on a regular basis. There is no monthly remuneration. There may be two to three hearings in a year. There was no question of staying in London or at any other place.”

The government has not got back to him on the CSAT assignment, they said.

“The government had approached him for the part-time assignment last month. He gave his consent. The job required attending two to three hearing per year and came without emoluments,” the sources said.

Sikri wrote a letter to the competent authority in the government withdrawing his consent.

“He (Justice Sikri) has withdrawn his consent; he has given no reasons. He just wanted to be away from the controversy,” a source close to Justice Sikri said.

Hitting out at the government, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said the Centre has a “lot of explaining to do” on the nomination of Sikri to CSAT.

Official sources said nomination of Sikri, who retires on March 6, was made last month following an internal process carried out by the Law Ministry. The External Affairs Ministry communicated to CSAT about India’s nomination, the sources said.

There was no reaction from either the Ministry of External Affairs or the Ministry of Law and Justice on it.

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel said Sunday government has a "lot of explaining to do" on the nomination of Justice A K Sikri to the vacant post of president/ member in the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

"The Government has a lot of explaining to do (sic)," Patel said in a tweet tagging a media report.

The government is understood to have recommended Supreme Court Judge A K Sikri's name as India's nominee for president/member in the CSAT.

Official sources said nomination of Sikri, who retires on March 6, was made last month following an internal process carried out by the Law Ministry.

Justice Sikri, the second senior-most judge in the apex court after Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, was part of the three-member panel along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Congress leader Mallikajurn Kharge which decided on removal of Alok Verma from the post of CBI Director.

Sikri's vote proved crucial to remove Verma from his post as Kharge opposed the move strongly while the government was pushing for Verma's sacking. Justice Sikri supported the government.

The External Affairs Ministry communicated to CSAT about India's nomination, the sources said.

There was no reaction from either the Ministry of External Affairs or the Ministry of Law and Justice on it.