The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a plea by CBI Director Alok Verma challenging the Centre's order asking him to proceed on leave.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday said Verma's plea would be taken up on October 26 after his counsel pressed for an urgent hearing on the midnight order issued against the central probe agency's chief following an escalation of rift between the top officials at the Bureau over bribery charges.

Verma had two more months to go before his tenure ends and the government cannot formally remove him, counsel contended.

--IANS

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