Excerpts from the plea moved by Alok Verma in the Supreme Court against the Narendra Modi govt’s decision to divest him of his charge as CBI director.
New Delhi: Ousted CBI director Alok Verma cited the importance of the agency’s independence as he moved the Supreme Court Wednesday against the Narendra Modi government’s decision to send him on leave.
While the Central government has argued that the decision to send Verma and CBI special director Rakesh Asthana on leave was meant to preserve the image of the agency, the director has argued that it is a bid to interfere with the CBI’s independence.
Also read: What the rebellion of Alok Verma tells us about Narendra Modi
Verma’s plea comes up for hearing Friday, a weekend before the Delhi High Court takes up a petition filed by Asthana against the bribery FIR filed against him by the agency.
The tussle between the two came out in the open with the FIR, which alleges that Asthana and his aide deputy superintendent of police Devender Kumar tampered with a complaint against the special director to frame Verma. In the wake of the FIR, Asthana alleged he was being “falsely implicated” by Verma to “hide his own criminal misconduct”.
Here are excerpts from Verma’s plea to the Supreme Court.
‘Tacit influence’
“The petitioner is a senior member of the Indian Police Service with an impeccable and unblemished record for over 35 years. It was due to this that the petitioner was appointed as director of the premier investigating agency, the CBI, in January 2017 for a statutory two-year term.
“However, as the CBI is supposed to function completely independently and autonomously, there are bound to be occasions when certain investigations into high functionaries do not take the direction that may be desirable to the government.
“Over the recent past, although all functionaries within the CBI, from the investigating officer and the superintending officers up to the joint director and the director, have agreed on a certain course of action, the special director has been of a different view.
“The hurdles posed by this individual have now been compounded by his complicity in concocting evidence to impugn the reputation of the petitioner (Verma)…
“As is customary within the CBI, whenever investigations are carried on, decisions regarding the direction of the investigation are taken by the investigating officer and then approved at all levels right up to the director, CBI. After the appointment of Rakesh Asthana IPS as special director, CBI, despite the pendency of cases against him and the reservations in this regard expressed by the petitioner, decisions that were crucial to the progress of certain investigations were stymied by Asthana alone. Many of these concerned very sensitive cases including those monitored by this Hon’ble court.
Also read: Modi govt’s brazen interference in CBI feud a bid to subvert agency: Plea in SC
“The petitioner has the complete confidence of his officers within the organisation, and any illegal interference of this nature not only erodes the independence of the institution but also the morale of the officers. It is prayed that the impugned orders ought to be stayed so that such external interference does not occur again.
“The details of many cases which have led to the present circumstances are extremely sensitive and cannot, with full responsibility, be divulged in the present pleadings. The petitioner shall, however, furnish same to this Hon’ble court.
“It is submitted that not all influence that is exerted by the political government would be found explicitly or in writing. More often than not, it is tacit, and requires considerable courage to withstand.”
The CBI chief has indirectly stated that his 2nd in command is acting as the point man of politicians in power scuttling his and his colleagues works in sensitive matters involving people in deep corruption . He has promised to present evidences to the court , probably in a sealed cover in the days to come . The unholy haste with which the mid-night raid was made to seize the incriminating material only speaks il of the govt’s motive .