CBI row: Modi govt curtails tenure of Asthana, 3 others

The decision comes days after CBI chief Alok Verma was shunted out by a PM-led panel

32-Rakesh-Asthana Rakesh Asthana

In another setback to the Central Bureau of Investigation after the unceremonious ouster of its chief Alok Verma, the government on Thursday curtailed the tenures of four officers—special director Rakesh Asthana, joint director Arun Kumar Sharma, DIG Manish Kumar Sinha and SP Jayant J. Naiknavare—with immediate effect. Formal orders were issued by the Appointment Committee of Cabinet and marked to the PMO, DoPT, home ministry and cabinet secretary among others.

Both Asthana and Sharma are Gujarat cadre IPS officers. Asthana, a 1984 batch IPS officer, faces an FIR by the CBI on alleged corruption charges following a complaint by Satish Sana, a suspect in the Moin Qureshi case. Sharma, a 1987 batch officer, was said to be close to Verma. Both Verma and Asthana had levelled corruption charges against each other prompting the government to issue midnight orders on October 23 divesting both of them of their duties pending inquiry.

The allegations of bribery and influencing investigations, however, did not limit to the two senior most officers of the agency. The CBI developed cracks as Verma and Asthana’s feud created an environment of suspicion and unease within the agency with officers getting divided on either side.

Manish Sinha is an IPS officer of 2000 batch of Andhra Pradesh cadre while Jayant is a 2004 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre. It may be recalled that Sinha, who was probing the bribery allegations against Asthana, had filed an explosive petition in the Supreme Court soon after he was transferred by the government, saying that he had been transferred with the purpose and intent to victimise him as his probe had revealed cogent evidence against certain powerful persons. He named the PMO, NSA, cabinet secretary, CVC and a minister in his petition alleging interference in the agency’s probe. 

Earlier this week, Verma had been shunted to the post of DG fire services and home guards, a posting he refused citing superannuation from the police service. 

All the four officers who were shunted out of CBI on Thursday may be repatriated to their state cadre respectively if the government does not give them new postings soon. However, there is speculation that the formal orders of their new postings are in the offing. Sources hint that while Asthana may be sent to head the bureau of civil aviation and security, Sharma is likely to land himself in the CRPF as additional DG. Sinha may join the Bureau of Police Research and Development. However, formal orders are yet to come. 

The government’s new set of transfers from the CBI reflects the continuing setbacks to the probe agency which has seen more than a dozen transfers and postings by now in the last one month starting from the top post of the director, affecting almost at every level. 

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