Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Monday recused from hearing NGO Common Cause's PIL challenging the appointment of M. Nageshwar Rao as the interim CBI chief, following the transfer, and subsequent resignation, of CBI Director Alok Verma.

As Senior Counsel Dushyant Dave attempted to open the case on behalf of the petitioner-organization, CJI observed, "I am participating in a meeting on January 24 (of the Selection Committee comprising the PM, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the CJI, as envisaged under section 4A of the DSPE Act for the appointment of the CBI Director) ...so I cannot hear it..."

The CJI, then, ordered the petition to be listed before Court 2, which is headed by Justice A K Sikri, the second seniormost judge of the apex court. Justice Sikri's bench will hear the petition on 24 January.

It may be noted Justice Sikri was nominated by the CJI to the previous meeting of the CBI Selection Committee on January 10 which had removed Verma as the Director by way of transferring him to the post of Director General Fire Services for his residual term (which would have ended on January 31) -  two days after having been reinstated by a judgment of the Supreme Court.