New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS): The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has sought comments from the health ministry on the removal of Sanjeev Chaturvedi as the chief vigilance officer of AIIMS.

This is months after Health Minister Harsh Vardhan defended the ministry's stand on the removal of Chaturvedi and said that the CVC had twice rejected his name.

"It is requested that comments of the minister of health and family welfare on the representation of Sanjeev Chaturvedi may be furnished early," reads the letter sent by the CVC to the health ministry dated Oct 22.

The letter was released to the media Tuesday.

Chaturvedi, a Haryana cadre forest service officer of the 2002 batch, was removed Aug 14 this year from the post of AIIMS CVO, much before completion of his tenure.

Following the comments by the health minister, Chaturvedi, in his petition to the CVC, urged it to refer back to the letters to the ministry ordering his removal.

A source close to Chaturvedi said that AIIMS, on the directions of the health ministry itself, had cleared Chaturvedi's name for the post and his name was then displayed on the official website of the CVC as CVO, AIIMS.

"Also, the CVC had been accepting various reports from Chaturvedi in the capacity as CVO AIIMS."

Chaturvedi, in his letters to the CVC dated Aug 26, Sep 15 and 19 had demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.