Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the ‘illegal’ removal of CBI director Alok Verma. “The act is, ‘completely illegal, arbitrary, punitive, without jurisdiction”, Kharge, who is the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.
In his petition, Kharge, who is the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said only the three-member committee of the leader of the opposition, prime minister and the Chief Justice of India can take a decision on the appointment or removal of the CBI director as per the act.
CBI chief Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana were divested of their duties in an unprecedented shake-up in the CBI's 55-year-history, in a 2.30 am order on October 24 as a culmination of the internal feud in the agency.
Nageshwar Rao was appointed the interim chief.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi yesterday alleged that the Centre was trying to cover up corruption in the Rafale deal and reiterated that CBI chief Alok Verma was removed as he was about to start a probe.
"Obviously CBI chief was looking at these papers. It is obvious that there is enough material in the public domain to nail PM Modi. So, clearly, it is a cover-up taking place. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman flies to France. After that Dassault CEO said the contract was given to Reliance because it had land . But now the truth has come out," said Rahul.
(With inputs from PTI)