Release Alok Verma probe papers, Mallikarjun Kharge tells PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who dissented with the selection commission that ordered the removal of Alok Verma as CBI chief, asked PM Narendra Modi to make public all documents relating to the probe against Verma and his eventual ouster.

In a two-page note to Modi, Kharge said the government's actions in this matter indicated it was "scared of having CBI headed by an independent director" and asked it to "come clean" by releasing the CVC report, Justice A K Patnaik's report, as well as the minutes of the selection committee meeting on January 10. This, Kharge said, was necessary so "the public can draw its own conclusion".

Indicating the appointment of Nageswar Rao as interim director of CBI might further intensify the standoff between the government and the opposition, Kharge said the post did not legally exist as per the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act and Rao's appointment was done "unilaterally" and "without consulting the selection committee".

"The government seemed to have made up its mind on appointing an interim director, and hence this was never placed before the selection committee. This appointment is illegal," Kharge said.

On Justice Patnaik disowning the CVC report on the basis of which Verma was removed, Kharge said, "Such huge embarrassment could have been avoided if the committee had decided to independently examine the CVC report, Justice Patnaik's report, Alok Verma's submission in his defence and draw its own conclusion before reaching a decision."