Justin Milne has bowed to pressure and resigned as ABC chairman after his fellow directors asked him to consider his future amid allegations he demanded certain reporters to be axed.

The public broadcaster’s board was thrown into crisis after managing director Michelle Guthrie (above left) was sacked in a surprise coup by the directors on Monday.

Mr Milne, who is understood to have pulled the trigger, had claimed the board had issues with the leadership style of the $900,000-a-year chief. But Ms Guthrie did not go quietly and is threatening legal action.

Soon after she was shown the door allegations emerged that Mr Milne had emailed her on separate occasions to order her to sack two journalists – Emma Alberici (above right) and Andrew Probyn – claiming they were upsetting the Coalition Government. He is said to have been told this by former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull, ironically, had two and a half years ago ignored official nominations for the managing director’s post and instead recruited Ms Guthrie in a captain’s pick.

On Wednesday, Mr Turnbull denied he had interfered to ask for journalists to be sacked. He said he had voiced concerns about the accuracy of ABC reporting, but never insinuated that the broadcaster was leaning too much to the left – a criticism that has been tossed around repeatedly in Canberra since the Coalition was elected and especially with the re-emergence of Pauline Hanson in the senate.

Also on Wednesday, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield announced a departmental inquiry would be held into Mr Milne’s direction to Ms Guthrie to sack Ms Alberici.

Yesterday, Senator Fifield said the investigation would seek answers from all relevant parties, including Mr Milne, acting managing director David Anderson, Ms Guthrie and members of the Government.

“The independence of the ABC is something that this Government is deeply committed to,” he said in The Australian.

The ABC board members are Peter Lewis, Dr Kirstin Ferguson, Donny Walford, Dr Vanessa Guthrie (not related to Ms Guthrie), Georgie Somerset, Joseph Gersh and Jane Conners (the staff pick).

According to a report in The New Daily website, Mr Turnbull appointed mining lobbyist Dr Guthrie to the board after rejecting the list of potential candidates provided by a nominations committee.

Board members are selected by the Minister for Communications with the Prime Minister  brought in when it comes to selecting a chair.

Does this sound like a process meant to foster independence at the ABC? Should the departmental inquiry be expanded to examine the motives behind all appointments to the current board? Is there some irony in the fact that after Ms Guthrie was told to leave, a number of her staff praised the sacking, only for it to emerge days later that it appeared she had herself protected some journalists from being axed?