NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the hearing against CBI director Alok Kumar Verma till Friday after the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) submitted its report to the apex court in a sealed cover on Monday.

CBI also gave a sealed cover report on major decisions taken by acting CBI director Nageshwar Rao and the transfer of officials after October 23 to the court.

The Commission was earlier directed by the top court to complete within two weeks its preliminary inquiry against Verma, who has been divested of his duties and sent on leave by the Centre.

Verma has a running feud with Special CBI Director Rakesh Asthana and has been appearing before the three-member CVC headed by K V Chowdary and is understood to have given a 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, was today listed 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.

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.

The court had appointed former apex court judge A K Patnaik to supervise the ongoing inquiry of CVC against Verma.

It had also barred IPS officer M Nageswara Rao, who has been given interim charge of the CBI, from taking any major decision.

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.

(With inputs from agencies)

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In Video: CVC submits probe report on Alok Verma in SC