CBI Director Alok Verma rejoins office

New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) A day after the Supreme Court reinstated Alok Verma as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director with limited powers, he resumed attending office on Wednesday and reviewed the progress of various high profile cases.

Verma, who was sent on forced leave on the night of October 23-24, returned to work after almost two-and-a-half months.

At the CBI headquarters, Verma was received by M. Nageswara Rao, who was appointed to look after Verma's duties and functions.

Verma went directly to his cabin on the 10th floor, which was closed since the time he was divested of his powers.

Two CBI officials who were transferred by Rao also arrived at the agency headquarters to meet Verma.

According to a CBI source, Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSP) A.K. Bassi and Ashwani Kumar met Verma.

The source said he also met several other officials and reviewed the progress of various high profile cases.

Verma, a 1979-batch IPS officer of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, was Delhi Police Commissioner before his appointment as CBI Director on February 1, 2017. His tenure ends on January 31.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reinstated Verma as the agency chief by setting aside the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and the Centre's decision to divest him of his powers to function as its head but with a caveat that he will not take any policy decision till a high-level committee goes into the issue afresh.

While reinstating Verma, the top court also junked the Centre's order appointing Rao as the interim Director.

The judgement climaxes a six-month-long battle between Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana. Both levelled corruption allegations against each other. In October, matters came to a head when Verma lodged an FIR against Asthana on a complaint by Satish Sana Babu, the alleged middleman in meat exporter Moin Qureshi's case.