The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi withdrew from the hearing on a case challenging the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI chief.
The CJI rescued himself from the bench because he is a member of the high-powered selection committee that picks the successor of Alok Verma. Nageswara Rao took over for the second time after transferring Alok Verma to fire services.
The high power selection committee will meet on the 24th of January to appoint the new CBI director. The committee comprises of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and the Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
An NGO had hired Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan to cancel the appointment of Mr Rao as the acting director of the agency.
Mr. Rao is from the Odisha cadre IPS officer 1986 batch. He took over as interim CBI director under midnight drama on the 23rd of October last year. After a court battle Verma was reinstated, but was transferred to the fire services department in less than 2 days. As soon as Rao took over he cancelled and reversed all the orders Mr. Verma took in his 48 hours in office.