SC to hear plea challenging appointment of CBI director

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday decided to hear a plea challenging the appointment of IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The three judge bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao agreed to hear the petition on December 9.

About the plea:

• The petition was filed by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) regarding the appointment of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of CBI.
• The plea alleges, "the Centre took a series of steps in a completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner to ensure that Asthana was given the charge of CBI director."
• The PIL claimed that the government had prematurely curtailed the tenure of CBI special officer RK Dutta, just two days before the former CBI director Anil Sinha was to demit the office, and transferred him to Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• It claimed that the meeting of the selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, the leader of the largest opposition party and the Chief Justice of India was not convened by the Central government.

What SC said:

• "Okay. It will come up on Friday," the division bench of the SC said after advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Common Cause, mentioned the plea.