BJP asks PM to keep new CBI chief's appointment on hold

New Delhi, Nov 23: Voicing "disapproval" of the appointment of new CBI Director Ranjit Sinha, BJP on Friday, Nov 23 wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying it should be kept in abeyance as a parliamentary committee on Lokpal has unanimously recommended that it should be done by a collegium.

Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, said in a joint written letter to the Prime Minister that the decision of appointing Sinha as the next CBI Chief should be kept on hold till the collegium system becomes a law as recommended by Rajya Sabha Select Committee on Lokpal.

The Select Committee report was tabled in Rajya Sabha on Friday. "This is a matter on record that hours before this recommendation (of the Select Committee) was tabled on the floor of the Rajya Sabha, the Government has chosen to appoint a CBI Director for a period of two years... We must record our strong disappointment and disapproval of this act of the government," the letter said.

BJP said that the manner in which the government has made this appointment ahead of the tabling of this recommendation in Rajya Sabha leads one to conclude that the government wanted to pre-empt the possibility of this recommendation at least in the case of Sinha's appointment.

"We would request you to revisit this matter and keep this appointment in abeyance till such time this recommendation becomes a law of the land. Hopefully, this can happen in the next few days," Swaraj and Jaitley said. The Select Committee on Lokpal states, "The Director of the CBI will be appointed by a collegium comprising Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India."

The recommendation was made unanimously by the panel. Sinha, a 1974 batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre and present Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Force, was named by the government as the next director of Central Bureau of Investigation yesterday. Sinha will take charge from Amar Pratap Singh, who retires on Nov 30.

PTI