SC to hear plea against CBI interim boss's appointment on Dec 9

The petition alleged that the Centre took steps in a 'completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal manner to ensure that Asthana was given the charge of CBI director'

The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on December 9 a plea challenging the appointment of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as the interim director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

"Okay. It will come up on Friday," a bench comprising Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justices DY Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao said after advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO Common Cause, mentioned the plea.

The petition, filed by the NGO, alleged that 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".

It has claimed that the government did not convene a meeting of the selection committee, comprising the prime minister, the leader of the largest opposition party and the chief justice of India, even though it was fully aware that Anil Sinha was going to demit the office of CBI director on December 2.

Asthana, an IPS officer of 1984-batch, was elevated as the additional director in the agency on December 2 when CBI Special Director RK Dutta, who was reportedly among the frontrunners for the top post, was shifted to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as a Special Secretary.

The PIL claimed that the government had "prematurely curtailed" the tenure and transferred Dutta to MHA on November 30 -- just two days before Sinha was slated to demit office.