WP (C) 984 of 2016
PIL challenging appointment of Director, CBI

Summary :

Challenging the ad-hocism in the appointment and functioning of the CBI Director: WP No. 984/2016

Common Cause had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court praying for issuance of an appropriate writ directing the Union of India to appoint a regular Director of CBI as per procedure established by law and for quashing the appointment of the Interim/Acting Director. The petition pointed out that even though the Central Government was fully aware that the Director CBI, Mr Anil Sinha, was demitting office on December 2, 2016, it failed to convene a meeting of the selection committee to appoint the new Director. In order to safeguard the independence of the CBI, a detailed procedure has been laid down in Section 4A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, as amended by the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013. The Central Government chose to ignore the mechanism apparently through a series of omissions and commissions.

With the appointment of Mr. Alok Kumar Verma as the new CBI Director, post approval by the selection committee meeting which was called subsequently, the Supreme Court closed the petition on January 20, 2017. The bench declined the request of our counsel, Mr Prashant Bhushan, to direct the Centre to place before the Court, the minutes of meeting of the committee to ensure compliance with law laid down by the apex court.