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CBI VS CBI: Delay in submitting report pushes crucial hearing to Nov 16

CVC was ordered to complete its preliminary inquiry report within two weeks against Verma on Oct 26. Verma was sent on leave by the centre and divested of his duties after his feud with CBI special director Rakesh Asthana became public.

CBI
 
New Delhi: The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) submitted its inquiry report to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover on Monday. The inquiry was ordered on a bribery case against Central Bureau of Investigation Director (CBI) Alok Kumar Verma.
 
The CVC inquiry was based on a letter dated August 24, 2018, received by the CVC from the Cabinet Secretary. The CVC had said the allegations against Verma were “serious in nature having prima facie vigilance angle.
 
The report was submitted before a Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul in the courtroom. Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, for the CVC, stated that the inquiry into allegations against Mr. Verma was over on November 10.
 
A 24-hour delay by the CVC to file the report forced SC to adjourn the hearing to November 16. It was originally scheduled for Monday. Chief Justice Gogoi made the court’s displeasure clear when the filing was delayed.
 
CVC was ordered to complete its preliminary inquiry report within two weeks against Verma on Oct 26. Verma was sent on leave by the centre and divested of his duties after his feud with CBI special director Rakesh Asthana became public.
 
Verma appeared before the three-member CVC headed by K V Chowdary and is said to have given point-wise refusal to all the allegations levelled against him by his deputy.
 
The CBI, on the other hand, also handed over to the top court the agency’s report on the decisions taken by its interim director Nageshwar Rao from October 23, ever since he took charge as CBI head.
 
Asthana accused Verma of accepting bribes from meat exporter Moin Qureshi after Verma accused him of being corrupt.
 
“The feud between Verma and Asthana escalated last month, leading to the registration of an FIR against Asthana and others, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who is in CBI custody in an alleged bribery case. After the tussle between the two senior officers became public, the Centre, in a sudden overnight strike on October 23, divested both Verma and Asthana of their duties and sent them on leave. The very next day, Verma challenged his removal in the top court that issued notices to both the central government and the CVC. The court directed the CVC to complete the inquiry against the CBI director within two weeks. Meanwhile, the court had also barred IPS officer M Nageswara Rao, who has been given interim charge of the CBI, from taking any major decision,” a report said.
 

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