Supreme Court to hear on Monday version of CVC which probed CBI director Alok Verma
New Delhi, Nov 11 : The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday the version of the Central Vigilance Commission, which was directed to complete within two weeks its preliminary inquiry against CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma, who has been divested of his duties and sent on leave by the Centre.
The hearing assumes significance as Verma, who has a running feud with Special CBI Director Rakesh Asthana, has been appearing before the three-member CVC headed by K V Chowdary and is understood to have given point-wise refusal to all the allegations levelled against him by his deputy.
Verma's plea, which had been heard by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on previous occasions, is now listed for hearing on November 12 before a two-judge bench comprising the CJI and Justice S K Kaul.
The decision that a smaller bench would hear the case has come after the CJI, in his recent informal interaction with journalists, said that on Mondays and Fridays, when the apex court hears miscellaneous cases, only two-judge benches would sit.
The court had appointed former apex court judge A K Patnaik to supervise the ongoing inquiry of CVC against Verma.
Besides issuing notices to the Centre and the CVC on the plea of Verma, the apex court, on October 26, had also set a deadline of two weeks for the CVC to complete the preliminary inquiry against the CBI director.
It had also barred IPS officer M Nageswara Rao, who has been given interim charge of the CBI, from taking any major decision.
The top court on Monday would also peruse the decisions taken by Rao from October 23, including transfer of investigations and change of investigating officers and may pass some appropriate orders on them.
It had said that a list of all the decisions taken by Rao between "October 23, 2018 and up to this hour including decisions with regard to transfer of investigations, change of investigating officer(s) etc will be furnished to the court in a sealed cover on or before November 12, 2018 where after orders as would be appropriate will be passed by the court."
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CVC, had said that the CVC has been conducting an inquiry into the allegations made in the August 24 note/letter of the Cabinet Secretary with regard to Verma.
Besides the plea filed by Verma, the court is also seized of the PIL filed by NGO Common Cause, which has sought a probe by special investigation team against CBI officers including Asthana, and had issued notices to the Centre, CBI, CVC, Asthana, Verma and Rao asking them to respond to it by November 12.
Asthana has also moved the Supreme Court with a separate petition in the matter and has sought removal of Verma from the post of CBI Director.
"We want to see preliminary probe report in 10 days to decide whether it requires further probe," the bench had said.
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Govt debunks claims of India attacking Nankhana Sahib in Pakistan, other disinformation
New Delhi, May 10 (PTI): The government on Saturday debunked claims that India had launched a drone attack on the Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.
"A video shared on social media is claiming that India has carried out a drone attack on the Nankhana Sahib gurdwara. This claim is completely fake," the PIB Fact Check Unit said.
Such content was being circulated to create communal hatred in India, it said.
Nankhana Sahib is the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and the gurdwara is a revered shrine and pilgrimage centre for Sikhs.
The government also dismissed as "fake" certain social media posts claiming that an Indian pilot ejected from his fighter aircraft in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that a woman Air Force pilot was captured in Pakistan.
The government also debunked claims that India's power grid had been rendered dysfunctional in a cyberattack by Pakistan, and that there had been a temporary closure of the Mumbai-Delhi airline route.
"These claims are fake," the government said.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has extended the temporary closure of 25 segments of Air Traffic Service (ATS) routes within the Delhi and Mumbai Flight Information Regions due to operational reasons, it said.
The government also said an old video showing Indian soldiers crying was actually of youngsters from a private defence coaching centre celebrating their selection in the Army.
The PIB Fact Check Unit said the video in question was uploaded on Instagram on April 27 and was not related to the Army.
"The video depicts students from a private defence coaching institute celebrating their selection into the Indian Army. The youth in the video reportedly became emotional with joy upon receiving news of their successful recruitment," it said.
The government also debunked reports in a section of foreign media about 10 explosions around the airport in Srinagar on Friday, as well as separate claims of blasts near the Jaipur airport.
"These claims are fake. Rely only on official sources for authentic information," a government official said.
The PIB Fact Check Unit also said that claims on social media about destruction of Indian army posts were false and that a video shared in this regard dated back to 2020.
"This video is old and NOT related to any activity post Operation Sindoor. The video was originally uploaded on YouTube on Nov 15, 2020," it said.
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Janam Asthan Sri Nankana Sahib Under India's Drone Attack
Modi's India Fired A Drone Attacking Guru Nanak Sahib's Janam Asthan Nankana Sahib -- Pakistan Army Shot Down the Indian Drone Aimed At Sri Nankana Sahib..!!!@sikhsforjustic @SFJ_US_Official
Now ....Not… pic.twitter.com/2tsTjV4pKj
