Amid controversy over reports about his selection as a member of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT), Justice Sikri is learnt to have written to the Law Ministry on Sunday evening to formally turn down the offer.
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Supreme Court judge AK Sikri, whose vote helped in deciding CBI chief Alok Verma’s removal from the top post, has reportedly turned down a post-retirement offer from the government. He has also communicated to the Law Ministry that he isn’t interested in any job after he retires on March 6, according to sources.
News website The Print today reported that Justice Sikri was nominated to the post of president/member of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT). The opposition had questioned the centre’s choice.
The CSAT is the final arbiter of disputes among its 53 member-countries of the Commonwealth. The members are appointed on a four-year term which may be renewed only once.
The top court judge, second in seniority after Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was expected to join the CSAT soon after retirement.
Sources said Justice Sikri wrote to the centre saying he was “pained by the recent developments”, apparently referring to the criticism his vote invited following the ouster of the CBI chief.
“The government had approached him for the assignment last month. He gave his consent. The job required attending two to three hearings in a year and came without any remuneration,” sources close to the judge said.
“I am withdrawing my consent… please do not process,” his letter reportedly said.
Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had said the government had a “lot of explaining to do” on the nomination of Justice AK Sikri to the vacant post at CSAT.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alleged that “fear was driving PM Modi” to take such decisions.
When the scales of justice are tampered with, anarchy reigns.
This PM will stop at nothing, stoop to anything & destroy everything, to cover up the #RafaleScam. He’s driven by fear. It’s this fear that is making him corrupt & destroy key institutions.https://t.co/IfYHf2EMGd
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 13, 2019
According to CSAT’s official website, its members are “selected by Commonwealth Governments on a regionally representative basis from among persons of high moral character who must hold or have held high judicial office in a Commonwealth country… The members are appointed on a four-year term which may be renewed only once.” Justice Sikri is scheduled to retire from the Supreme Court on March 6, 2019.
Following the Supreme Court’s January 8 order reinstating Verma, Justice Sikri was asked to represent the Chief Justice of India as part of the selection panel, which also had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge as members.
However, the decision of the selection panel triggered controversy, with Verma refusing to take up his new posting — DG, Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards — and informing the government on January 11 that he “may be deemed as superannuated” with immediate effect. Verma was to complete his fixed two-year tenure as CBI Director on January 31, 2019