Supreme Court asks govt to explain appointment of CBI head

New Delhi: The SC on Friday sought the Centre’s response on a plea challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of the CBI after allegedly shifting out a senior officer who was supervising the cases of 2G spectrum and coal scams by curtailing his tenure.

“Why was senior-most officer R.K. Dutta, supervising high profile 2G and coal scam cases, shifted out of agency without the nod of this court,” a bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R.F. Nariman said, while issuing a notice to the government. “You have to reply on two questions, as to why Dutta was shifted out of the CBI by curtailing his tenure and how the CBI’s interim director was appointed,” the bench said.

Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said a meeting of the selection committee to appoint the CBI chief will be convened soon and letters have been issued to the CJI and leader of largest Opposition party in Parliament.

The three-member selection committee to appoint the CBI director comprises the Prime Minister, the leader of the largest Opposition party and the Chief Justice of India.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, claimed that Mr Dutta was shifted out of the CBI by curtailing his tenure to ensure that Mr Asthana, a senior Gujarat cadre officer, was made the interim chief of the probe agency. “They are trying to destroy the CBI,” Mr Bhushan alleged after Mr Mehta sought some time to file the reply, and urged the court not to give so much time to the government. Mr Mehta argued that Mr Asthana has been serving the agency for long and also handled several high profile cases.

The court, however, asked Mr Mehta to file reply to the petition within a week and posted the matter for hearing on December 16.

The petition, filed by the NGO, alleged that the Centre took a series of steps in a “completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner to ensure that Asthana was given the charge of CBI director”. Asthana, an IPS officer of 1984-batch, was elevated as CBI’s Additional Director on December 2 when its Special Director R K Dutta, who was reportedly among the front-runners for the top post, was shifted to the Ministry of Home Affairs as a Special Secretary.

Meanwhile, Congress on Friday also accused the Modi government of “perfecting the art of appointing favourites” by superceding deserving candidates to statutory positions. “Modi Government has followed a policy of disappointing those who deserve an appointment, reappointing favourites while keeping unrest in the ranks of officers, superseding higher officers to appoint rank juniors and frustrate all statutory processes,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.