Supreme Court seeks Centre, CBI, CVC reply on Verma's plea
CVC to conduct inquiry within 2 weeks
New Delhi, Oct 26 : The Supreme Court Friday sought a response from the CBI, the CVC and the Centre on agency Director Alok Kumar Verma's plea challenging the government's decision to divest him of his duties and send him on leave.
The apex court directed that interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao shall not take any major policy decisions. Decisions taken by him since October 23 till date shall not be implemented, it said.
All decisions taken by Rao shall be placed before the apex court in a sealed cover.
The top court said former Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik will oversee a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) inquiry into the allegations and counter allegations and the report has to be placed before it within two weeks.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi posted the next date of hearing on November 12.
The bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, issued notices on the petition filed by an NGO, Common Cause, which has sought a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe against the CBI officers.
CBI's Special Director Rakesh Asthana has also been named as one of the respondents in the NGO's petition.
Verma and Asthana have made allegations of corruption against each other.
During the brief hearing Friday, senior advocate F S Nariman advanced arguments on behalf of the CBI chief.
He submitted that the CBI director was appointed with the approval of a selection panel having the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
Nariman referred to the CVC and Centre's orders divesting Verma of his duty. He also cited the Vineet Narain judgment to support Verma's pleas.
In the beginning, the apex court said the CVC inquiry on allegations and counter-allegations should be completed in 10 days under the supervision of this court.
CVC submitted that 10 days for inquiry was not sufficient as it has to look into several documents. It said for the time being, no monitoring by anyone else should be allowed.
The bench granted the CVC two weeks to conclude its probe.
Verma has also sought a stay of the Centre's order asking him to proceed on leave and giving the interim charge of his post to Rao, a 1986 batch Odisha-cadre IPS officer.
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Court grants statutory bail to two more accused in Sabarimala gold loss cases
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): A court here on Thursday granted statutory bail to more accused in two cases related to the alleged gold loss from the Sabarimala temple.
The Kollam Vigilance Court Judge Mohit CS granted bail to Chennai-based Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari and Ballari-based jeweller Govardhan Roddam in connection with cases involving gold loss from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) gold plates and the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) at the temple.
The duo was granted bail in both cases after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) failed to file charge sheets within 90 days of their arrest.
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Pankaj Bhandari is the 12th accused in the Dwarapalaka case and the ninth accused in the Sreekovil door frame case, while Govardhan Roddam is the 13th accused in the Dwarapalaka case and the 10th accused in the Sreekovil door frame case.
With the latest development, as many as 10 accused have now been released from jail after securing bail in the Sabarimala cases.
According to the investigation, the artefacts from Sabarimala were taken to Smart Creations in 2019 for replating, after which the SIT alleged that gold was lost.
Govardhan is also said to be a close associate of the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty.
The SIT, following searches at the residences and offices of the accused, had recovered gold allegedly equivalent to the reported losses from Sabarimala.
The SIT has informed the Kerala High Court that charge sheets in the cases will be filed before the end of March.
