The Supreme Court removed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Ranjit Sinha Thursday from the 2G spectrum case, saying he had attempted to help the accused in the spectrum scam and derail the investigation.

"We direct Ranjit Sinha not to interfere in the 2G probe," the investigation team constituted in the CBI to probe this case will take over the handling of the case in place of Ranjit Sinha," the court said.

"To protect the fair name of the CBI and to protect the reputation of the CBI director, we are not giving elaborate reasons as the CBI has its own reputation and we don't intend to tarnish it," the bench said.

The apex court verdict is based on a petition filed by senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan that alleges that Sinha tried to help those being investigated for serious criminal charges in the 2G scam and also submitted the original guest (gate entry diary) of the Ranjit Sinha residence and told to court that some unknown person gave him the documents, which detailed as many as 50 meetings between Sinha with the representatives of 2G accused, as "credible" The 2 top Reliance ADAG officials visited the CBI director's residence nearly 50 times in the last one year.

Ranjit Sinha had on Wednesday claimed before the apex court that DIG-rank CBI officer, Santosh Rastogi, was a "mole" who passed on certain file notings and documents to Prashant Bhushan. The court said Sinha's allegation is not proved and thus Santosh Rastogi stands exonerated.

The Bench also recalled a September 15 order asking advocate Prashant Bhushan to disclose the identity of the anonymous source who had leaked documents which led to allegations levelled against Mr. Sinha.

Prashant Bhushan, meanwhile, demanded that Sinha be ordered to stop supervising all cases, not just the 2G probe.