After controversy, Justice Sikri withdraws ‘consent’ to take up Commonwealth post

After a controversy erupted, Supreme Court judge A.K. Sikri, who last week sided with the government in the three-member committee to remove CBI Director Alok Verma, on Sunday withdrew his "consent" to be nominated to the post of President/Member of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

Sources close to the jugde said that Sikri communicated to the government on Sunday expressing his withdrawal of consent after news broke out over his nomination to the post.

They said that the judge was asked by the government in December about his inclination to hold the post. He had then agreed. But the timing of his nomination for the plum post raised several eyes brows in legal and political circles.

Notably, Sikri was part of the Selection Committee including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge that on Thursday decided 2:1 to remove CBI chief Verma from the post. Kharge gave a dissent note and opposed Verma's ouster.

Advocate Indira Jaising, who is the former additional solicitor general of India, took to social media to ask why information regarding the nomination had not been disclosed before Justice Sikri was made part of the select committee that ultimately removed Alok Verma as CBI chief.

"Justice Sikri should have disclosed this before he sat on the committee as the nominee of the Chief Justice of India, the decision is vitiated for this reason also, and the post requires "high moral character "? Where is the constitutional morality?" Jaising asked in a tweet.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with destroying key institutions to cover up the "Rafale scam" following reports of Supreme Court judge Sikri. Reacting to the development, Gandhi tweeted: "When the scales of justice are tampered with, anarchy reigns."

"This Prime Minister will stop at nothing, stoop to anything and destroy everything, to cover up the Rafale Scam. He's driven by fear. It's this fear that is making him corrupt and destroy key institutions," said Gandhi tagging a media report about the post-retirement offer to the Supreme Court judge.

Pertinently, the CSAT was established to meet the requirements of the Agreed Memorandum on the Commonwealth Secretariat (1964) which was revised by governments in 2005.

In fulfilment of its obligations under the Agreed Memorandum, the UK government passed the Commonwealth Secretariat Act 1966 which, among other things, gives the Commonwealth Secretariat legal personality and accords it certain immunities and privileges.

The CSAT has a full complement of eight members comprising the President and seven others. The 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.

Born on March 7, 1954, Sikri was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge on April 12, 2013. He earlier served as the Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

(With IANS inputs)