New Delhi, November 16: CBI director Alok Verma has been issued no clean chit by the Central Vigilance Commission as the Supreme Court on Friday said the CVC report has indicated mixed findings. The apex court bench has shared the Commission's report with Verma's counsel in a sealed cover, asking the exiled CBI chief to file a response.

The CVC report, however, would not be shared with CBI special director and Verma's deputy Rakesh Asthana, who has accused his boss of seeking a bribe of Rs 3 crore from a Hyderabad-based businessman linked to controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi. Alok Verma Not 1st CBI Chief at Loggerheads With Govt, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Had Sacked Trinath Mishra in 1998.

The CVC inquiry against Verma was constituted on October 31, after he was sent on a forced leave in wake of the serious charges levelled against him.

Verma, who was divested of his responsibilities on October 23 and 24, had challenged his removal before the Supreme Court, calling it "unconstitutional and arbitrary". The bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had ordered the CVC to conduct a time-bound probe in the matter, while directing interim CBI chief Nageswara Rao to stick to routine administrative tasks.

Apart from Verma, NGO Common Cause and Congress' legislature party leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge also moved the court challenging the Centre's action against the CBI director.

Kharge, who is part of the three-member panel including the CJI and Prime Minister which selects the CBI officers, said the decision taken by the Modi government was "illegal" as other panel members were not consulted.

Apart from the Opposition, BJP lawmaker Subramanian Swamy has also come out in support of Verma. "I knew him (Verma) when he was Delhi police commissioner. I've seen him working in CBI on Aircel-Maxis and other cases. I consider him an honest man. A lot of injustice has been done to him. It has hurt our campaign against corruption.I hope the Supreme Court will do him justice," Swamy said on Friday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 16, 2018 12:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).