PM-Led Committee Removes Alok Verma As CBI Chief

In an unprecedented move, CBI Director Alok Verma was removed from the position Thursday on the charges of corruption and dereliction of duties after a marathon meeting of the high-powered selection committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials said.

Verma, whose fixed tenure of two years was to end on January 31, is the first chief in the 55-years of the CBI's history to face such action, they said.

He has been posted as Director General Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards, under the Union Home Ministry. The charge of the CBI has been given to Additional Director M Nageshwar Rao, a government order issued on Thursday evening said.

There were eight counts of charges against Verma in the CVC report presented before the Committee also comprising Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Justice A K Sikri, appointed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi as his nominee.

The eight counts of charges included alleged attempts to induct tainted officers, compromising probe in the Moin Qureshi case, IRCTC scam among others, they said.

The decision for the removal of 1979-batch IPS officer Verma was taken by a majority with Kharge opposing the move, they said.

The meeting of the committee was convened Wednesday which lasted nearly 30 minutes.

It was convened again on Thursday at the residence of Prime Minister Modi at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg at around 4.30 PM.

The meeting continued for nearly two hours with Kharge strongly arguing for giving a chance to Verma to present his case before the committee on the allegations levelled by the CVC against him.

However, the Prime Minister and Justice Sikri did not agree with his position making clear his ouster from the agency.

Reacting to the development, the Congress said, "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."

A delegation of former ministers Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha along with activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had met Verma on October 4, 2018 with plea of registering an FIR in the Rafal aircraft purchase deal.

Verma was sent on forced leave by the government in a late-night controversial order on October 23, 2018 in the wake of a feud between him and his deputy Special Director Rakesh Asthana which had intensified after Asthana was booked on corruption charges by the CBI on October 15, 2018.

He had challenged the order in the Supreme Court which had quashed the government order Tuesday and reinstated him with a condition that the high-powered selection committee will decide his fate in a week.

Verma had joined the office Wednesday after 77 days of forced leave set aside by the Supreme Court.

The apex court had said any further decision against Verma, who was scheduled to retire on January 31, would be taken by the high-powered committee which selects and appoints the CBI director.

The Supreme Court in the Vineet Narayan judgment had fixed a minimum tenure of two years for the CBI director to give him immunity from any political interference. Later, through the Lokpal Act, the process of selecting the CBI director was handed over to a selection committee

Ahead of the meeting of the high-powered committee,  Congress President Rahul Gandhi had also attacked the government ahead of the crucial meeting and said Modi is in a "tearing hurry" to "sack" CBI chief Alok Verma because of the Rafale deal.

"1. Why is the PM in such a tearing hurry to sack the CBI Chief?

"2. Why will he not allow the CBI Chief to present his case in front of the selection committee ? Answer: RAFALE," Gandhi said on Twitter.

The top court had asked the government to convene the meeting within a week of its order. It had quashed the government's unprecedented "overnight" order issued in October last year, stripping Verma of his powers and sending him on leave after he and his deputy traded corruption charges, sparking a bitter feud.