The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the fight between two top officers of the CBI — Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana — in public exposed the premier probe agency to ridicule.

Attorney General K K Venugopal told a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi that the fight between the two officers impacted the image of the CBI. The Centre’s main aim was to see that confidence of the public in this premier institution is restored, he said.