New Delhi: A Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday admitted the plea of ousted CBI chief Alok Verma for a hearing on Friday, but he may not hear the case in view of the conflict of interest.
Gogoi’s dilemma is that he is also a part of the 3-member selection committee that alone can appoint or remove a CBI chief. Incidentally, Verma’s specific plea is to reinstall him as the CBI chief, as he has not yet completed the statutory term of two years and remove M Nageshwar Rao, who was appointed in his place. For the record, no new CBI chief, not even an interim chief, can be appointed without the approval of the selection committee. The Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha constitute the selection committee and he is sure that the last two have not given any approval to divest him from his position as he has not committed any crime that falls in the category of extraordinary circumstances.
