Appointment of CBI interim chief 'illegal', says Mallikarjun Kharge

New Delhi, Jan 15 Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, terming the appointment of M Nageswara Rao as the CBI's interim director "illegal" and requesting that a gathering of the choice submitted be met promptly to appoint a new chief of the probe agency.

Kharge, who is part of the prime minister headed three-member panel that removed Alok Verma as CBI chief, affirmed that the legislature is scared of CBI driven by an "independent" director

"Actions of the government indicate that it's scared of a CBI headed by an independent director," Kharge wrote in his letter to PM Modi

He also demanded that the government comes clean on the issues and make public the CVC report, Justice A K Patnaik's report and minutes of the January 10 meeting

Rao's arrangement as CBI interval boss seems to be "unlawful", the Congress chief wrote in the letter

Barely two days after the Supreme Court reestablished him, Verma was Thursday last removed as CBI chief by the powerful advisory group headed by PM Modi on charges of corruption and dereliction of obligation, in a remarkable action in the central probe agency's 55-year history

There were eight charges against Verma in the CVC report presented before the committee that also comprised Kharge and Justice A K Sikri, delegated by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi as his nominee.