Justify appointment of CBI chief Asthana: SC

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, December 9

The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to justify within a week the appointment of Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as CBI’s interim director after transferring another contender RK Dutta to the Home Ministry.

A Bench comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and RF Nariman issued a notice to the government on a PIL by NGO Common Cause questioning the logic behind the transfer of Dutta, who was supervising 2G and coal scam cases, without taking the consent of the apex court which was monitoring the investigation.

The government was destroying the CBI by resorting to such illegal appointments, petitioner’s senior counsel Prashant Bhushan pleaded. The Centre should have appointed a regular CBI director through a penal comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India, he argued.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the government had initiated the process for convening a meeting of the PM-LoP-CJI panel and Asthana’s appointment was only an ad hoc measure. Bhushan, however, said the CBI Director required to be appointed much before the retirement of the incumbent CBI chief.

The government had resorted to a series of mala fide, arbitrary and illegal steps to appoint Asthana, Bhushan pleaded. The Bench posted the case for next hearing on December 16.