New Delhi, Oct 26 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday welcomed the "intervention" by the Supreme Court in the turmoil at the CBI and hoped the institutional integrity of the investigating agency will be upheld.
His reaction came after the Supreme Court asked the Central Vigilance Commission to complete within two weeks its inquiry into allegations against CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma and barred interim director M Nageswara Rao from taking any major policy decision.
"Welcome intervention by the hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the CBI matter.
"In the interests of the nation, hope that institutional integrity of CBI will be upheld & powers that be will understand that their illegal acts will not go un-challanged (sic)," Kejriwal tweeted.
The court said the inquiry will be conducted under the supervision of a former Supreme Court judge.
Hearing Verma's plea challenging the government's decision to divest him of his duties and send him on leave, the court sought a response from the CVC and the Centre.
The feud between Verma and his deputy, CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana, escalated this week leading to registration of an FIR against Asthana and others including Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who is in the CBI custody in an alleged bribery case.
The FIR was lodged on a written complaint of Satish Babu Sana on October 15. It alleged that Kumar, the investigation officer in a case, was repeatedly calling him to the CBI office to harass and compel him to pay a bribe of Rs 5 crore to give him clean chit.
Asthana and Kumar both challenged the FIR in the Delhi High Court, which on Tuesday ordered CBI to maintain status quo on the criminal proceedings against Asthana.
The Centre, the CVC and the DoPT intervened and decided to send the CBI Director and the Special Director on leave.
