Interview with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Ravi Nair
Interviewed by Prabir Purkayastha

The removal of Alok Verma as Director, Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday, January 10 2019, has decimated India’s premier police investigating agency. Prabir Purkayastha discusses this issue with Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Ravi Nair.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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New Delhi: Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi dropped out and nominated Justice A K Sikri to the special Selection Committee that will review the case against CBI Director Alok Verma and decide his future within a week. The three-member committee also comprises the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.
 
The nomination comes a day after the Supreme Court set aside a government order divesting Verma of his powers, and left it to the high-powered committee to consider the matter “at the earliest and, in any case, within a week from the date of this order”. In the meantime, Verma has been restricted from taking any major policy decisions.
 
Verma had moved the SC against his divestment, arguing that the government should have approached the selection committee, tasked with appointing the CBI Director, before initiating action against him.
 
“To this, the government had contended that the role of the committee was only in the appointment of the CBI Director. The SC, however, said, “no provision with regard to interim suspension or removal is to be found in the DSPE (Delhi Special Police Establishment) Act, 1946 (under which the agency was established)”. The court added, “if the legislative intent would have been to confer in any authority of the State power to take interim measures against the Director, CBI… surely, the legislation would have contained enabling provisions to that effect,” The Indian Express reported.
 
PM Modi, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Justice Sikri are also expected to decide on the next CBI chief to succeed Alok Verma, who retires on January 31.
 
Verma was sent on compulsory leave by the government in a post-midnight order on October 23 and replaced by an interim chief, Nageswar Rao. He contested the action in the Supreme Court, saying a CBI director has a two-year fixed term and only the selection panel headed by the prime minister can remove him.
 
The court yesterday agreed, and so left it to the panel to take a decision on Verma.
 

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But Verma’s reinstatement appears to be a toothless act of tokenism given how he is not allowed to take any policy decisions till a Central Vigilance Committee probe on corruption charges against him gets over. Additionally a high powered committee comprising the Prime Minister, leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. Oppostition parties though have welcomed Verma’s reinstatement.

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New Delhi: Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was enraged at the alleged leak of a confidential CBI report to be submitted with the SC. The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the pleas filed by Central Bureau of Investigation Director Alok Verma and non-governmental organisation Common Cause against the government’s decision to send the agency chief on leave, to November 29.
 
But after saying that “None of you deserve a hearing,” the Supreme Court agreed to hear Verma’s plea on Tuesday challenging the government’s decision to divest him of duties minutes after adjourning the case.
 
The Central Vigilance Commission had on November 12 submitted a report on Verma to the Supreme Court. On Monday, Verma responded to the Central Vigilance Commission’s report on him in a sealed cover.
 
However, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi handed over a report published in The Wire to CBI’s chief lawyer Fali Nariman. The media report has some content which is part of Verma’s reply to the Central Vigilance Commission.
 
Gogoi was reportedly “deeply upset” that the confidential report had been leaked to the media. “I am disturbed,” he said. “Any leak was unauthorised. Free press and responsible press should go hand in hand.”
 
“It is only for you Mr Nariman and not as a counsel for Alok Verma,” the bench said while handing over the news article to the lawyer, PTI reported. “We have given this to you as you are one of the most respected and senior members of the institution. Please help us.”
 
Nariman, after going through the report, said it was “totally unauthorised” and that he was very “disturbed and shocked”. “This gives a new twist to the word responsible press and freedom of the press,” he added, demanding that the journalists concerned be summoned to court.
 
“We are not hearing [the case] today,” Gogoi said. “We don’t think any of you deserve any hearing.”
 
The chief justice also expressed displeasure over the publication of a petition by CBI officer Manish Kumar Sinha against his transfer by the Centre.
 
When the hearing resumed, the Chief Justice said, “Yesterday, we refused the mentioning and we expressed that the highest degree of confidentiality will be maintained, but for some strange reason the papers were taken away and given to everyone.” The judges added, “The court is not a platform. It is a place for adjudication. We intend to set it right.”
 
However, in a statement, The Wire said that its report had Verma’s response to questions the Central Vigilance Commission had put forward to him. “These were not in a sealed cover and were not meant for the SC,” the website said. “As for his response to CVC’s final report, handed over to SC in sealed cover, we haven’t seen/reported that.”

 
Later, Nariman told the top court that there had been no violation of the Supreme Court’s order. He corroborated The Wire’s claim that its report had Verma’s answers to questions the vigilance commission had asked him.
 
Gogoi condemned a request made by Verma’s lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan to give his client more time to file a reply to the vigilance commission’s report. To this, Nariman said he was unaware of the submission and had come to know of it only through the media.
 
“Nobody had asked him (Shankaranarayanan) to do so. It was totally unauthorised. I was never informed. Nobody asked him to mention the matter. I am very disturbed,” Nariman told the bench, adding that he and his junior had worked late in the night to prepare Verma’s response. “How can this come? It’s a leak. I myself is shattered the way it has been done,” he said in a report by The India Express.
 
The CJI then adjourned the hearing to November 29 and said the bench does not want to record any reasons for it.
 
“Verma was accused by his deputy Rakesh Asthana of taking bribes from a Hyderabad-based businessman being investigated by the agency. Verma accused Asthana of the same crime.
As the CBI’s top two accused each other of corruption, they were both sent on forced leave and several officers investigating Asthana were transferred on the night of October 23,” a report said.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court ordered authorities to hand over the CVC report to CBI director Alok Verma on Friday.  
 
The court gave Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Verma time till November 19 to respond to the report filed by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which is probing infighting within the central agency. The apex court directed the authorities to hand over the report to Verma in a sealed cover and ordered that confidentiality of the document be maintained. The SC fixed November 20 as the next date of hearing.
 
During the hearing Friday, the Supreme Court pointed out that the CVC report on Verma was “complimentary” on some charges, “not so complimentary” on some charges and “very uncomplimentary” on some charges. The three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, added that further inquiry was required into some charges.
 
The SC has also ordered that a copy of the report be given to Attorney General K K Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. It turned down Special CBI Director Rakesh Asthana’s request that the CVC report be provided to him as well.
 
The SC was hearing petitions filed by Verma and NGO Common Cause challenging the government’s order to divest the CBI Director of his duties. The SC on October 26 had given the CVC two weeks to complete its probe against Verma, which is being monitored by its retired judge, Justice A K Patnaik. On Monday, the CVC had submitted its preliminary report to the court.
 
Patnaik has also filed a note in SC.
 
Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who have been engaged in a tussle, were divested of their duties by the Department of Personnel and Training on October 23.
 
Related Articles:
CBI VS CBI: Delay in submitting report pushes crucial hearing to Nov 16
SC to the Rescue, CVC Report to be Scrutinised: CBI Controversy
Spy vs. Spy: Institutional Collapse of CBI
 

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The Congress, meanwhile, is staging an agitation, led by party chief Rahul Gandhi, outside the agency’s headquarters against the government’s move. On Thursday, Rahul hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, terming the Centre’s as a “panic reaction” by the PM who knew that he would be “finished” if the CBI began an inquiry into the Rafale fighter jet deal.

The Supreme Court has issued notice to Centre in petition by Alok Verma and Common Cause challenging leave order by Central government. Most significantly, the Interim Director of CBI M Nagehswar Rao should not take any major policy decision, orders Supreme Court and all decisions taken by M Nageshwar Rao from October 23 to be submitted in sealed cover to SC.
 
The next hearing will be on November 12.

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan who has been spear heading this battle tweeted:

“SC virtually disables the new Dir CBI, Nageshwar Rao appointed by the govt by replacing Verma & restrained him from taking any major or policy decision. All decisions taken by him under scanner. The enquiry by CVC against Verma will be supervised by retd SC judge & done in 2 weeks”

Read about the Controversial Officer hand-picked by the PMO under Narendra Modi to head the CBI here.

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