Alok Verma, the former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI,) on Friday, refused to take his new post as the chief of Fire Services and submitted his resignation.
The Selection Committee, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Justice A.K. Sikri, with a majority of 2:1, made a decision, yesterday, to remove Alok Verma as the CBI Director. The Committee further assigned the post of Director General, Fire and Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards to Mr. Verma.
Mr. Verma, disappointed with the Committee’s judgement, said, “Natural justice was scuttled and the entire process was turned upside down in ensuring that the undersigned is removed from the post of the Director.” He further added, “The decisions made yesterday will not just be reflection on my functioning but will become a testimony on how the CBI as an institution will be treated by any government through the CVC, who is appointed by majority members of the ruling government. This is a moment for collective introspection, to state the least.”
Speaking about the report by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC,) Mr. Verma said, the report included the signed statement of the complainant (Satish Sana,) who never appeared in front of Justice A.K. Patnaik, the Supervisor of the investigation. Adding to this, Mr. Verma deemed the decision of the Government as an injustice as he did not get a chance to defend himself and explain his point.
On Thursday, the Selection Committee held a meeting and based on report by the CVC, accused Alok Verma of corruption and negligence of duty.
The dispute between Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana, the Special Director of the CBI, began when both of them accused each other of bribery and corruption.
However, after the Selection Committee’s judgement, Alok Verma was deprived of his powers as the director and transferred to his new post. On the other hand, Rakesh Asthana, the second accused, is still on forced leave and there is an ongoing investigation against him.
However, Mr. Asthana denied all the allegations and said, the action against him is the result of his complaint against Alok Verma.
After Alok Verma’s case in the Supreme Court (SC,) the Delhi High Court, today, heard the plea of Rakesh Asthana and ordered the CBI to complete the probe against Rakesh Asthana within 10 days.
Stay tuned for further updates about the story.
