Former SC judge gives note to court, explains probe process

NEW DELHI: Former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Patnaik, who supervised the central vigilance commission inquiry into allegations of bribery and case-fixing by CBI director Alok Verma, gave a separate note to the apex court on Friday explaining the process adopted in the probe.

Verma was summoned twice by the three-member panel of chief vigilance commissioner K V Chowdary and vigilance commissioners Sharad Kumar and T M Bhasin during the inquiry. While the three questioned Verma, Justice Patnaik watched the proceedings and did not participate in the inquiry. tnn

“The entire inquiry proceedings were conducted under the watchful eyes of Justice Patnaik but he did not participate in the proceedings,” a source said, adding it was the reason why the CVC prepared a report independent of the former SC judge.

In its order, the CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led bench mentioned the separate note given by Justice Patnaik and said, “We express our gratitude to Justice A K Patnaik for sparing his valuable time and supervising the inquiry in question.”