The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi today asked the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta why the Centre had divested CBI director Alok Verma of his powers in an “overnight” decision. Justice Gogoi said, “If you had tolerated since July, it is not something that required immediate action as the circumstances were culminating for a long time.”

Justice Gogoi added, “‘Government has to be fair, what was the difficulty in consulting the selection committee before divesting Alok Verma of his power? Essence of every government action should be to adopt the best course.”

Tushar Mehta said the situation was “extraordinary” and inaction on the CVC’s part would be “dereliction of duty”.

According to ANI, Attorney General KK Venugopal said in the Supreme Court that Verma “was not transferred and it was an artificial argument by him that he was transferred. It was not a transfer and two officers were divested of the charges and functions.”

The government had told the Supreme Court yesterday that divesting Verma of his powers had been done “in larger public interest to ensure institutional integrity”, NDTV reports.