Justice Sikri Recuses From Hearing Plea on Interim CBI Director

After Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, Justice AK Sikri on Thursday also recused from hearing the petition against appointment of Nageswara Rao as the interim director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The matter will be listed on Friday before another bench.

On Monday, CJI Gogoi had recused from hearing the matter, citing that he was a part of the committee which will be deciding on the next CBI Director on January 24. The matter was, therefore, assigned to the bench headed by Justice Sikri.

It may be noted that Justice Sikri was part of the High-Powered Committee which took the decision to remove Alok Verma as CBI Director, two days after he was directed to be reinstated by the Supreme Court. Then the Government appointed Nageswara Rao as Interim Director.

On Thursday, Dushyant Dave, senior advocate appearing for the petitioners -- NGO Common Cause and RTI Activist Anjali Bhardwaj-- expressed despair at the fact that the petition will not get a hearing before the Committee meeting to select new Director, which is scheduled on Friday. Expressing helplessness, Justice Sikri said "I have my predicaments".

Justice Sikri had got entangled in a controversy after news emerged that he was being nominated by the Centre to the Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitration Tribunal (CSAT) at London after his retirement in March. Since the news broke immediately after the Committee meeting of January 10, it led to a lot of speculation. Following this, Justice Sikri announced revocation of his consent to be nominated to CSAT.

Background of the Petition

The petition states that the appointment of Nageswara Rao was not made on the basis of recommendations of the High-Powered Selection Committee, as mandated under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act. The order dated January 10, 2019, stated that the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet had approved the appointment of Rao "as per the earlier arrangement". However, this earlier arrangement i.e., order dated October 23, 2018, making him Interim CBI Director, had been quashed by the Supreme Court on January 8, in the Alok Verma case. However, the government still invoked its earlier order which had been quashed, to once again make Nageshwar Rao Interim Director of CBI, contended the petition.

Right to Information activist Anjali Bhardwaj is a co-petitioner in the PIL (public interest litigation), which also alleges that the Government was not following a transparent process in the appointment of CBI Director. As per the petitioners, the Government cannot give charge of CBI Director without the recommendations of high-powered committee. So, the Government order giving him charge of CBI Director is illegal and against appointment procedure under Section 4A of DSPE Act, the petition states.

It says: The Government of India has attempted to stifle the independence of the institution of the CBI by appointing the Director of the CBI in an arbitrary and illegal manner. Further, the lack of transparency in the process of appointment prevents any meaningful public scrutiny and allows the government to exercise undue influence in the process especially at the stage of short-listing of candidates, thereby undermining the institution of the CBI.

Apart from seeking to quash Rao's appointment, the petition also seeks directions for laying down specific mechanisms to ensure transparency in the process of appointment of the Director of the CBI. The petition states that in December 2018, the government initiated the process of appointment of Director, CBI as the tenure of Alok Verma was set to finish on January 31, 2019.

In December 2018, Anjali Bhardwaj filed various applications under the RTI Act seeking information on the appointment process. "In an attempt to obfuscate and withhold information about the appointment process, the government responded to each of these RTI applications with the same summary response", the petition says.

Courtesy: Live Law

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/interim-cbi-director-nageswara-rao-142353