Shake-up in CBI

Warring top bosses sent on leave; Warangal man is new chief

l Odisha cadre IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao takes over as CBI Director
l Midnight drama at CBI HQ in New Delhi in the wee hours of Wednesday
l Delhi Police cordoned off the CBI building on Lodhi Road
l At 1.15am, Nageshwar Rao sealed the offices of Verma, Asthana
l New chief to monitor personally sensitive cases like Agustawestland

New Delhi: In a post-midnight drama on Wednesday, the top hierarchy of the CBI underwent a major overhaul with the Modi government sending the two top CBI officers -- Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana -- on leave. Joint Director M Nageshwar Rao took over as interim CBI chief and immediately transferred 13 top officers of the investigating agency.

The decision of the government came under all-round fire from the Opposition who termed it "the last nail in the independence" of the organisation. Verma moved the Supreme Court, which will hear his plea on Friday. Verma who has two more months as the CBI chief and cannot be removed formally. An official order said the arrangement would continue "during the period of the subsistence of the aforesaid interim measure", as the rift between Verma and CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana escalated over bribery allegations. "The Modi government buries the last nail into the independence of CBI.

“Systematic dismantling and denigrating of CBI is now complete. Once a premier investigating agency, PM ensures that CBI's integrity, credibility and reliability is buried and dead,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a series of tweets. The Prime Minister has demonstrated "the true colour of his infamous Modi Made Gujarat Model by this cloak-and-dagger mugging of the CBI, the Congress spokesperson said. Surjewala asked whether the CBI director was "sacked" for his keenness to probe the layers of "corruption in Rafale Scam". "Isn't the rest a shoddy cover up? Let PM answer!" he tweeted.

"The illegal removal of CBI chief by the Modi government to protect their own handpicked officer, against whom serious charges of corruption are being investigated, points to attempts at a serious cover-up to protect his direct links to the BJP's top political leadership," Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury said. The decision came after Asthana was divested of all supervisory charges on Tuesday. The government appeared to be peeved over the war at the top in the country's premiere probe agency and took the action as he could not be sacked straight away. The CBI on Tuesday also suspended its Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, who was arrested on Monday on the charge of falsification of records while probing allegations against meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

It also added five new sections into the existing bribery FIR lodged against its Special Director. Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a Hyderabad-based businessman Sathish Babu Sana who was under probe in the Qureshi case in order to "wreck" the investigation. The case was being examined by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Asthana. The CBI has said that there was "no change in responsibilities" of the second-in-command so far.

Verma challenges his ouster in SC

New Delhi: Alluding to government interference in sensitive cases, CBI director Alok Verma, in a petition in Supreme Court, challenged the government order that divested him of all charges, saying it was illegal and had bypassed a high-powered committee. The bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi said Verma’s plea would be taken up on October 26. In his petition, Verma argued that the shunting out violated law that provides for a fixed tenure of two years. He said the transfer of a CBI director has to be with the consent of the high-powered committee.

The order sending him on leave had bypassed the mandate of the committee. Verma has asked for a stay of the order against him and says: “The present action gives serious credence to the requirement that CBI be given independence from the DoPT, which seriously hinders the independent functioning of the agency”. “More often than not, it is tacit, and requires considerable courage to withstand it,” he said. Verma also offered to furnish details of sensitive cases that led to his removal.

Centre won’t let anyone probe Rafale: RahuL

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the CBI Director Alok Verma was sent on a "forced leave" for collecting documents on the Rafale deal. "CBI chief Alok Verma was collecting documents on the Rafale scam. He was forcibly sent on leave. The Prime Minister's message is very clear that whoever comes around Rafale -- will be removed, wiped out," Gandhi tweeted. "The country and the constitution are in danger," he said in poll-bound Rajasthan while targeting Modi government over the Rafale deal.