New Delhi :
The Supreme Court on Friday described the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) probe report on allegations of bribery against the exiled Central Bureau of India (CBI) chief Alok Verma a “mix”. The court asked Verma to file his response on the CVC report in a sealed cover by Monday.
Hearing the matter, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, told Alok Verma that the CVC report is "complimentary on some charges, not so complimentary on some charges and very uncomplimentary on some charges."
The court also directed that the CVC inquiry report on Alok Verma will also be given to Attorney General and Solicitor General. However, it rejected special CBI director Rakesh Asthana's request that the CVC probe report be provided to him also.
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According to reports, the CVC has not found any evidence of taking bribery against Verma but observed "administrative lapses". Verma’s deputy Rakesh Asthana had accused him of talking bribery from a Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana to clear his name from the Moin Qureshi case.
Verma also accused Asthana of taking bribery from Sana. He produced Sana before a magistrate court where the latter claimed to pay Rs 3 crore to Asthana. The ugly infighting in the CBI came out in open after the agency registered an FIR against Asthana.
Amid the controversy, the Centre on October 24 deprived the two warring CBI officers of their powers and sent them on an indefinite leave. Verma challenged the government's decision in the Supreme Court, which ordered the CVC to complete a preliminary inquiry into the allegations against the CBI chief in two weeks.
On November 12, the CVC had submitted the report in the Supreme Court. While hearing the matter today, the court said that it will take a decision on the matter after Verma’s response on the report and fixed the matter for further hearing on November 20.
