Alok Verma ouster: Piyush Goyal takes jibe at Kharge, calls him 'man of consistency'

Following the ouster of Alok Verma as the CBI Director, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took a potshot at Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, calling him a "man of amazing consistency."

"Indeed, Mr Mallikarjun Kharge is a man of amazing consistency. When Shri Alok Verma was appointed CBI chief by the selection committee, he dissented. Now, when Shri Alok Verma has been removed by the same Selection Committee, he has dissented," he tweeted.

A high-powered committee comprising Justice Sikri, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kharge met for over two hours on Thursday to decide the fate of Verma, who was reinstated by the Supreme Court earlier this week after he was sent on forced leave by the government.

Verma was removed as the CBI Director on account of the "extremely serious nature of observations made by the CVC against him."

The committee was of the view that being the head of a very sensitive organisation, Verma was "not functioning with the integrity expected of him," according to sources.

The 1979-batch IPS officer was posted as DG, Fire Services, Civil Defence, and Home Guards, two days after he was reinstated as the CBI Director by the Supreme Court. His reinstatement had come about two-and-a-half months after being divested of his powers and sent on leave by the government.

In his place, 1986-batch IPS officer M. Nageshwar Rao, who is Additional Director of CBI, will look after the duties of the Director, till the appointment of a new Director or until further orders, whichever is earlier, according to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.