Feuding CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana have been divested of their powers and sent on leave, capping overnight discussions that led to the agency's reins being handed to a joint director as an interim measure on Wednesday. It is the first such case in the history of the investigating agency, sources said, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the media that the government's decision to remove the CBI's two top officers was based on CVC's recommendations.

Joint Director M Nageswar Rao, a 1986-batch Odisha cadre IPS officer, was appointed to look after the "duties and functions" of the director with "immediate effect" as an "interim measure".
A late night order on Tuesday from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi sent Verma and Asthana on leave. On Tuesday evening, the CVC recommended after a meeting that Verma and Asthana be sent on leave and a SIT be formed to probe the allegations against them.