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A CBI spokesperson said the agency will “follow today’s Supreme Court order in letter and spirit”, and seek legal opinion if needed.

In his complaint to the Cabinet Secretary on August 24, which was forwarded to the CVC, Rakesh Asthana accused Verma of receiving money to give relief to one Satish Babu Sana who was being investigated by the agency in the Moin Qureshi case. In its order divesting Verma of his responsibilities, CVC referred to the agency’s lack of co-operation with regard to an inquiry arising from this complaint.

Solicitor Genarl Mehta expressed apprehension that the court order would reflect on the CVC’S functioning. “Let the CVC examine the matter. The CVC has to submit an annual report to the President, which will be presented before the Parliament,” he urged the bench, quoting the provisions of CVC Act, 2003.

The court’s response was conciliatory but firm. It said in its order: “We make it clear that entrustment of supervision of on-going enquiry by the C.V.C. to a former judge of this court is onetime exception which has been felt necessary by this Court in the peculiar facts of this case and should not be understood to be casting any reflection on any authority of the Government of India.”

The court also issued notice on Verma’s petition questioning the government decision to send him on leave. Notice was also issued to the Centre on Common Cause’s petition asking for a probe by Special Investigation Team (SIT) against Asthana and his removal from the CBI. “We will examine the matter,” the court said at the outset of the hearing.

The court refused to entertain Asthana’s lawyer senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi because his petition against the government order was not listed before it. “You have missed the bus. Your matter is not before us. We cannot pass any orders,” the CJI said.

Senior advocate Fali Nariman, appearing for Verma, quoted the law to point out that Verma has a fixed two-year tenure and his removal or transfer cannot be without a reference to the highpowered committee led by the Prime Minister and comprising leader of the opposition and Chief Justice of India.

Before Nariman could argue further, CJI Gogoi told Attorney General KK Venugopal that the court would examine the matter at the next hearing and would give CVC 10 days to complete the probe against Verma. When Mehta said the time was not sufficient, the CJI quipped: “Okay we will give you 240 hours.”

Mehta pointed to the voluminous documents in a sealed cover and said several documents were yet to be received from CBI. CJI Gogoi refused to look into the bulky documents. “This is just a preliminary enquiry being done by the CVC,” he said.

Mehta made yet another effort. “There is Diwali break as well. Give us some more time.” CJI replied: “Diwali is just for one day and that is 24 hours.” Their families have refused to claim their bodies from the hospital until they’ve been compensated. Khori lived alone and his family is yet to be traced. A relative of Panjge’s, Sundarlal Panjge, said the contractor was to blame. “They usually use a ladder to get inside the manhole, however on Friday, they did not have any ladder. The contractor had not provided any, nor were there any safety gears, masks or gloves,” said Sunderlal.

Deputy engineer of Dombivli MIDC, Deepak Patil, said an investigation into the tragedy was underway and denied allegations that the workers had no protective gear. “The labourers were carrying the safety measures. The police have clicked their pictures. I will check with the contractor who had appointed them. After the detailed investigation we will take action against the contractor if he is found guilty,” said Patil. He said MIDC only appoints contractors who supply safety gear to workers. Manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment is prohibited under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. However, according to an answer given in Lok Sabha, in 2015, by the ministry of social justice and empowerment, Maharashtra had 35% of all manual-scavenging households in India. Three sanitation workers died in January this year, while coming out of a manhole in Powai.