Supreme Court judge, Justice AK Sikri has withdrawn his consent for appointment to the post of president/member of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT).

According to highly placed sources, Justice Sikri has informed the authorities not to process the matter further.

As per sources, oral consent for appointment to CSAT was taken from the judge in the first week of December 2018 and it had nothing to do with the CBI matter, since he was appointed as nominee of the CJI in the Alok Verma issue only in January 2019.

As a member of the high-level committee constituted to decide on allegations against former CBI Director Alok Verma,  Sikri J. had voted along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in favour of ousting Verma.

Subsequently, there were calls from different quarters that Sikri J. should refrain from accepting post-retirement jobs offered by the Executive.

Shortly after that, The Print today reported about his impending appointment to the CSAT, causing further controversy.

Now, Sikri J. has withdrawn his consent and informed the authorities not to process the matter further. It is also understood that he will not be accepting any post-retirement jobs.

Further, it is also learned that appointment to the CSAT is not an assignment on regular basis.  There is no monthly remuneration for the same, as there are only two or three hearings a year.