New Delhi, October 24: CBI director Alok Verma being sent on a forced leave is not the first occasion when the premier agency's top boss has landed at loggerheads with the Centre. In 1998, the then chief of the central probing body, Trinath Mishra, was sacked following a raid on the premises of a top industrialist.

On November 19, 1998, CBI's then joint director DL Lal had raided two official premises linked to Dhirubhai Ambani. The establishments searched by the agency sleuths were located in Mumbai's Cuffe Parade Bhavan and Delhi's Le Meridien. Petition Filed in Bombay High Court Seeking SIT Probe Against CBI Chief Alok Verma.

The raids, carried out under the directions of Mishra, were not on the suspicion of corruption or money laundering. Instead, the CBI had intended to charge Ambani's company under the Official Secrets Act for obtaining classified information without authorisation.

According to reports, officials had seized secret documents related to the Petroleum Ministry during the raids.

However, shortly after the raids, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sacked Mishra for not keeping the Ministry of Home Affairs in loop before conducting the roads.

Since the Home Ministry is mandated to look into the cases pertaining to Official Secrets Act, the CBI, which falls under DoPT -- a wing of the PMO -- should had consulted the MHA before the raids, the government had then said.

Notably, the DoPT norms at the time did not guaranteed a two-year immunition to CBI chiefs. The Centre was solely in charge of appointing or sacking the directors.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 25, 2018 12:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).