The Supreme Court on Tuesday in a major setback to the Central government has reinstated CBI chief Alok Verma setting aside CVC order of October 23. The court said Verma could not be stripped of his powers but added that he could not take major policy decisions till talks with the Selection Committee. Alok Verma was sent on forced leave.
Supreme Court reinstates Alok Verma as CBI Director after setting aside the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) October 23 order.
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2019
SC also said that the government should have referred to the Select Committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition before initiating Alok Verma’s removal.
Reacting on the Judgement Congress Leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, ‘We’re not against one individual, welcome SC’s judgement, it’s a lesson for govt. Today you’ll use these agencies to pressurise people, tomorrow somebody else will, What will happen to democracy then?” as quoted by ANI
Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress on SC's verdict on Alok Verma plea: We're not against one individual, welcome SC's judgement, it's a lesson for govt. Today you'll use these agencies to pressurise people, tomorrow somebody else will, What will happen to democracy then? pic.twitter.com/sAHEvuYNf8
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2019
Earlier, On December 6, A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi reserved the judgment after hearing arguments on behalf of Verma, the Centre, the CVC, and others. The Apex Court had on December 6 also heard the plea moved by NGO Common Cause which had sought a court-monitored SIT probe into the allegations of corruption against various CBI officials, including Asthana.
Verma had sought to quash of three orders of October 23, 2018 — one by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and two by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), as being without jurisdiction and in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
The Centre had taken a decision against Verma and CBI’s Special Director Rakesh Asthana after their feud become public as they made allegations of corruption against each other.
READ: Nageswara Rao, who replaced Alok Verma, promoted as Additional Director