Supreme Court judge, Justice AK Sikri, retiring on 06 March this year, has reportedly withdrawn his consent for appointment to the post of president/member of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

 

Reportedly, Justice Sikri informed the authorities not to process the matter further in view of insinuations made against him for siding with the Government decision on former CBI director Alok Verma.

 

It is further learned that the Justice Sikri's oral consent for appointment to CSAT was taken in the first week of December 2018.

 

Therefore, it had nothing to do with the CBI matter since he was appointed as the nominee of the CJI in the Alok Verma issue only in January 2019.

 

However, a section of the media that always play the game of "head you lose and tail I win" insinuated that Justice Sikri's stand against Alok Verma in the three-member search committee was a sort of "quid pro quo".

 

This is said to have pained Justice Sikri who immediately informed the authorities not to process the matter further. It is also understood that he will not be accepting any post-retirement job.

 

Indianmandarins has further learned that the CSAT job is not a regular assignment nor is there any monthly remuneration since there are only a few hearings a year.