Justice AK Sikri declines govt offer to nominate him to CSAT

Justice Sikri declines govt offer to nominate him to CSAT

New Delhi, Jan 13: Justice AK Sikri on Sunday withdrew his consent to a government offer to nominate him for president/member in the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

Sources close to the second senior-most judge after the Chief Justice of India told PTI that the consent was withdrawn Sunday evening when the judge wrote to the government.

"The government had approached him for the assignment last month. He gave his consent. The job required attending two to three hearing per year and came without emoluments," the sources said.

Second in seniority after Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, justice Sikri was scheduled to join CSAT after his retirement on March 6, news website ThePrint reported. The decision to nominate him as president/member in the international body, which is the final arbiter of disputes between 53 member-countries, was taken by the Union government last month, it said.

PTI