The three-member high-level committee formed to discuss the fate of CBI director Alok Verma, comprising of PM Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice Gogoi, met on Wednesday evening but failed to make any decision as Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge sought time to know whether CBI Chief was working on the Rafale deal probe, among other details.
The high-powered committee will take a call on Alok Verma’s transfer within a week. CJI Gogoi has stayed away from the meeting as he authored the judgement and has appointed AK Sikri to his place in the selection committee.
According to the reports, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded to know specific information on certain issues like Rafale probe and wanted to confirm whether Alok Verma was working on a case pertaining to the deal. Requesting to read the CVC report on Alok Verma, Kharge also sought to hear the CBI chief’s response to the CVC report.
Reportedly, Mallikarjun Kharge is also keen to know the response of Alok Verma regarding the circumstances that made the government send him on leave. Meanwhile, Kharge has sought time to study the Supreme Court judgement which reinstated Alok Verma as the chief of the CBI.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had reinstated Alok Verma as Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), setting aside the Centre’s decision to send him on leave before the end of his term in January. With only weeks left for Alok Verma’s retirement, the decision of the Supreme Court to take away his power to make decisions is a major setback to Verma and his supporters.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the Verma camp has been propagating lies regarding the recent CBI fiasco claiming that CBI Director Alok Verma was sent on leave by the Narendra Modi led government after it found Verma’s alleged plans to start an investigation into the Rafale deal.
However, the CBI can’t initiate such probes on its own. It can probe into such cases only when the central government or a competent court orders the agency to do so.