'Supervision by retired judge no 'aspersion' on CVC's authority'

New Delhi: With the Supreme Court appointing a retired judge to supervise the CVC inquiry against benched CBI chief Alok Verma, a top government source said Friday the directions do not cast any "aspersion" on the vigilance authority.

"The Supreme Court has not quashed the orders of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the central government divesting the powers of Verma and CBI's Special Director Rakesh Asthana and appointment of Nageshwar Rao as interim chief of the investigation agency," the source said.

Explaining the order passed by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, the source said the supervision of the inquiry by a retired judge of the apex court is without any aspersion on the CVC and it has been done keeping in mind the extraordinary circumstances in this case.

"The orders of the CVC and the central government have not been quashed. The power of the CVC to enquire has been upheld. However, time limit of two weeks has been imposed," the source said.

The court also did not set aside the appointment of interim Director M Nageshwar Rao, though he has been advised not to take any policy decision and to submit all his decisions to the apex court.

"The intention of the central government was to create a conducive atmosphere to enable a fair enquiry into allegations and counter-allegations made by the Director and Special Director of the CBI against each other," the source said.

The central government has made interim arrangements for day-to-day working of the CBI and this has also been allowed by the Supreme Court, the source said.