The Supreme Court on Monday refused to examine the conflict of interest charge surrounding former Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma’s appointment as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Dismissing two PIls on the issue, the bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir directed the two petitioners — former CEC N Gopalaswami and eight others and lawyer Ml Sharma, to seek suitable remedy from the High Court.
Senior advocate Fali Nariman insisted the Court to examine the case as it involved vital questions of law. But brushing aside the concern raised by the senior jurist, the bench felt that a petition challenging CAG’s appointment called for no intervention under Article 142 which vested the apex court with wide-ranging powers.
The petition dubbed Sharma’s appointment as an arbitrary decision lacking any system for selection. There was no selection committee or criteria or evaluation for the selection process which made the appointment non-transparent.
Further, the petitions alleged that as Defence Secretary, Sharma had cleared major defence purchases, many of which could fall under consideration of CAG and thus could prove to be a source of embarrassment to the Government.