A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking to quash the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as interim/acting Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging that the Centre employed “completely mala fide, arbitrary and illegal” means to make the appointment.
The petition filed by NGO Common Cause, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Pranav Sachdeva, contended that the appointment was made in violation of the mandatory conditions imposed by the Supreme Court in the Vineet Narain case and Section 4A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
It said the Centre made the appointment in total defiance of the statutory procedure that the name of the CBI Director should be finalised by a specified panel.
