CJI Ranjan Gogoi recuses himself from hearing plea against Nageswara Rao’s appointment as interim CBI director

Citing the cause that he is a part of the committee that would meet later this week to select a new director for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), this Monday morning Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has recused himself from hearing the plea against Nageswara Rao’s appointment as the interim CBI chief. Filed on January 14 by Common Cause – an NGO – the plea will now be heard in Court No.2 on Wednesday.

The process of short-listing, selecting and appointing the director of CBI should remain a transparent process as per the plea. In violation of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPE Act), the current appointment of Nageswara Rao has been described to be ‘illegal, arbitrary’ and ‘mala fide’ by the petition. Usually, the committee to appoint the CBI chief is comprised of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition, the Chief Justice of India or any other Supreme Court judge nominated by him. The petition notes that the Union Government has ‘bypassed’ the ‘high-powered selection committee’ completely.

The petition also refers to the approval of the appointment of Nageswara Rao on January 10 to be the outcome of an ‘earlier arrangement’ by the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet. The Supreme Court on January 8 had dismissed that earlier order of October 23, 2018. The petition notes that the top court has ruled that the appointment of Nageswara Rao as CBI chief was in violation of procedures laid down by the DSPE Act. The government went ahead and ‘still invoked’ its order of October 23, 2018 as per the petition.

The plea states that a lack of transparency could result in the ‘undue influence’ of the government, particularly at the level of shortlisting candidates. It could ‘stifle’ the independence of the CBI, it points out. The ‘functional autonomy’ of the CBI director is assured by the ‘balanced’ nature of the selection committee and the provisions which exist to guarantee its independence. These have been discarded by the Government of India in an arbitrary and ‘illegal manner’, as per the Common Cause plea.