SC judge says no to post-retirement job offer from govt

Justice Sikri, the senior-most judge in the country's apex court after Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, was in the three-member panel that removed CBI chief Alok Verma recently.

The judge has said he is not interested in jobs after he retires on March 6, NDTV said quoting sources.

Justice Sikri was expected to join the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT), The Print had reported. The CSAT is the final arbiter of disputes among its 53 Commonwealth member countries.

The judge was expected to join the tribunal following his retirement.

Following The Print report on the development, Congress leader Ahmed Patel had said: "The Government has a lot of explaining to do."

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said: "When the scales of justice are tampered with, anarchy reigns. This PM will stop at nothing, stoop to anything & destroy everything, to cover up the #RafaleScam. He’s driven by fear. It’s this fear that is making him corrupt & destroy key institutions."

“Justice Sikri’s consent for the CSAT position by the government was taken in the first week of December, when even the judgment in the Alok Verma case was not pronounced. Moreover, Justice Sikri did not know until today about the nomination. And the CSAT position is honorary and is not based out of London entirely, as the name suggests," Hindustan Times quoted a person familiar with the developments.

However, NDTV, quoting a source close to the judge, said: "The government had approached him for the assignment last month. He gave his consent. The job required attending two to three hearings in a year and came without any remuneration."