A Supreme Court judge today recused himself from hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as a Special Director in the CBI.<br/><br/>The matter came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha when Justice Sinha recused himself without citing any reason.<br/>The bench said, the matter will be listed before an appropriate bench on 17th November.<br/><br/>The plea has been filed by an NGO, alleging that the decision to appoint Asthana was illegal and arbitrary. <br/><br/>It claimed that the CBI was probing a matter in which Asthana's name had<br/>cropped up. The plea demanded quashing of Asthana's appointment and sought a direction to the Centre to transfer him out of the agency during the pendency of the investigation.