Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister of India, on the 3rd of February, titled his latest blog post ‘Has Mr. Kharge Brought Down The Value of Dissent?’
Mallikarjun Kharge, a senior leader of the Indian National Congress (INC,) recently opposed the appointment of Rishi Kumar Shukla as the new Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) Director. Mr. Jaitley referred to the dissent of Mallikarjun Kharge as a political tool.
Kharge opposed the appointment of Mr. Shukla on the grounds that the latter is inexperienced in investigating anti corruption cases, which Kharge deemed as a violation of the law. Jaitley said, Mr. Kharge used the weapon of dissent excessively, not objectively, thereby diminishing the value and credibility of the power of dissent.
Mr. Jaitley claimed, Kharge’s actions make the appointment of the CBI Director look like a political battle. With regard to this, Jaitley wrote, “Shri Kharge has dissented a bit too frequently. Many may wonder if Collegium’s are workable. The appointment of a CBI Director was never envisaged to be a political battle. Shri Kharge has made it look like one.”
Has Mr. Kharge Brought Down the Value of Dissent? https://t.co/EU76AMXfz8
— Arun Jaitley (@arunjaitley) February 3, 2019
The Selection Committee, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Ranjan Gogoi, the Chief Justice of India (CJI,) and Mallikarjun Kharge, with a majority of 2:1, appointed Rishi Kumar Shukla as the new CBI Director. Kharge was not in favour of the decision and wrote a letter to PM Modi regarding his objection towards the same.
Arun Jaitley described the objections as a regular activity of Kharge and wrote, “Shri Kharge dissents regularly. He dissented when Shri Alok Verma was appointed, dissented when Shri Alok Verma was transferred and has now dissented when Shri RK Shukla has been appointed.” Jaitley further wrote, “A dissent should never be a political tool.”
Arun Jaitley further mentioned, Mr. Kharge’s actions are based on his political views and his dissent is coloured in political views. He said, Mr. Kharge was a petitioner against the removal of Alok Verma and should have recused himself in order to be unbiased and fair, but he did not withdraw his name.
In his blog post, Mr. Jaitley also wrote, “The only task before the Committee was whether the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) report contains the adequate material for transfer of the Director or not. He wanted the Committee to either ignore the CVC report or sit in appeal against the finding of the CVC – something which was beyond the jurisdiction of the Committee.”
After several meetings and discussions, the Selection Committee, on the 2nd of February, appointed R.K. Shukla, the current Chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation, as the new CBI Director. Mr. Shukla is a Madhya Pradesh cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of 1983 batch and was also the former Director General of the Madhya Pradesh Police.
The decision of appointing R.K. Shukla as the CBI chief came after two inconclusive meetings held on the 24th of January and the 1st of February.
