Senior Advocate Fali Nariman clarified to the court that what was carried in the media report did not have the contents of the documents submitted to court in the sealed cover but the reply given to Central Vigilance Commission earlier
New Delhi:
Despite repeated attempts by the lawyer for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma to convince the Supreme Court to hear his case against the government order divesting him of all powers and sending him on leave, the court on Tuesday refused to do so.
“What is this? We will not hear you today. None of you deserve a hearing,” Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said as he adjourned the case to 29 November.
Senior Advocate Fali Nariman for Verma clarified to the court that what was carried in the media report did not have the contents of the documents submitted to court in the sealed cover but the reply given to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) earlier.
A visibly irked Chief CJI Gogoi expressed displeasure over a media report by the Wire carrying details of Verma’s response to the inquiry report of the CVC.
“We refused the mentioning yesterday and expressed that the highest degree of confidentiality be maintained. Our respect for the institution is not being shared by people,” Gogoi said.
Apart from being furious at the lawyers who were part of the case proceedings, he also came down strongly on his court staff for the leak and said that efficiency of court staff in Court 1 should be at its highest.
On Monday, Verma submitted his reply in a sealed cover to the inquiry report by the CVC on the corruption allegations against him.
The same day, deputy inspector general Manish Kumar Sinha, one of the officers investigating the bribery charges against CBI special director Rakesh Asthana also moved the apex court challenging his transfer to Nagpur on 24 October.
In his plea, Sinha claimed interference by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval into the investigation against Asthana.
“The transfer was ‘arbitrary, motivated and mala fide’, and was made solely with the purpose and intent to victimise the officer as the investigation revealed cogent evidence against certain powerful persons,” Sinha said. Urgent hearing in the case, was, however, denied.
“This court is not a platform. It’s a place for adjudication of legal rights,” Gogoi angrily said on the way Sinha’s application had been mentioned yesterday.
On 26 October, the top court had placed the CVC’s inquiry into the corruption allegations against Verma under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge A.K. Patnaik and told the commission to complete its inquiry in two weeks.
Verma and Asthana were divested of their powers and sent on leave on 24 October, pending the probe. M. Nageswara Rao, joint director of the CBI, was appointed the new interim chief.
The court barred Rao from taking any policy or major decision, ordering him to perform only routine tasks essential to keep the CBI functioning.
Rao was asked to submit a list of all the decisions he had taken since 23 October in a sealed cover, including decisions regarding transfers and change of investigating officers.
The court is seized of a petition by the Prashant Bhushan-led non-government organization, Common Cause, which has challenged the order sending the CBI director on leave and divesting him of all powers.
Verma, in his plea, said the Centre’s action was “patently illegal” and contended that it was in violation of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, which provided the CBI director a two-year term.
Source:https://www.livemint.com/Politics/tQTG93qexEk0rcefcZSypO/Supreme-Court-expresses-displeasure-over-leak-of-Alok-Verma.html
No comments:
Post a Comment