Supreme Court says essence of govt action must be in interest of institution: CBI chief Alok Verma's plea

New Delhi, Dec 6 The Supreme Court, which is hearing CBI Director Alok Verma's plea against the Centre's decision to divest him of powers and send him on leave, on Thursday said the essence of government action must be in the interest of the institution.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said Attorney General K Venugopal disclosed to it that conditions coming full circle in the circumstance began in July.

Specialist General Tushar Mehta, showing up for the Central Vigilance Commission, alluded to summit court decisions and laws overseeing the CBI.

The apex court said it was not that the battle between the CBI chief and Special Director Rakesh Asthana developed medium-term, compelling the govt to divest the director of powers without consulting the Selection Committee.

The CBI director and the special director were fighting like "kilkenny cats", exposing the nation's premier investigating agency to "public ridicule", the government told the Supreme Court on on Wednesday while advocating the choice to strip Verma of his obligations.

Attorney General (AG) K Venugopal additionally told the best court that the administration was well "inside its entitlement to intercede" and send the two officers on leave by divesting them of their powers.

The top law officer asserted that "only the God knows where and how this battle between the two best officers would have finished" if the government would not have taken the action which was aimed at restoring the public faith in the CBI.

The court was hearing pleas of Verma, who is challenging the Centre's decision against him, and NGO Common Cause, looking for a court-checked SIT probe into charges of corruption against different CBI authorities, including Asthana.