A day after he resumed duties, CBI Director Alok Verma was on Thursday unceremoniously removed from the post after a 2-1 decision by the high-level Selection Committee, a decision that came under attack from the opposition and legal experts.
The decision of the committee came after CJI nominee Justice A.K. Sikri of the Supreme Court sided with the government that Verma should be shunted out of the post on the basis of the findings of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), which went into some allegations leveled against him.
Meanwhile, the removal of Alok Verma as CBI Director came under severe attack from the opposition, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that sacking CBI chief Alok Verma twice shows that Modi is now a prisoner of his own lies.
Fear is now rampaging through Mr Modi’s mind. He can’t sleep. He stole 30,000Cr from the IAF and gave it to Anil Ambani. Sacking the CBI Chief #AlokVerma twice in a row, clearly shows that he is now a prisoner of his own lies.
Satyamev Jayate.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 10, 2019
The critics of the decision also asked how the committee could take a decision without hearing Verma.
The Congress criticised the committee’s decision and said Modi had shown that he was “too afraid” of an investigation into the Rafale deal.
“By removing Alok Verma from his position without giving him the chance to present his case, PM Modi has shown once again that he’s too afraid of an investigation, either by an independent CBI Director or by Parliament via JPC,” the Congress tweeted.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said if it was a majority decision to remove Verma, then it was unfortunate. “I don’t know why Verma was not asked to reply to the charges against him. I have very poor opinion of the CVC,” he said.
