Attorney general KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the top two officers of CBI were “fighting like Kilkenny cats.”
He told the bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi that the fight between the two officers has impacted the image of the CBI and has pulled down the integrity and respect of the premier institution.
His words were: “Top officers, Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana, were fighting against each other and went public which exposed CBI to ridicule.”
He added that it was absolutely essential for the Centre to step in and act in the tussle between two officers.
He said, “Government of India was watching with amazement as to what these two officers were doing, they were fighting like cats.”
He further claimed , “The Centre’s main aim was to see that confidence of the public in this premier institution (CBI) is restored.”
The CBI had named its second-in-command, Mr. Asthana as an accused in a bribery case, along with Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar and two private persons. It was alleged that more than Rs 3 crore in bribes were paid by the complainant for getting relief in a case against meat exporter Moin Qureshi and others.
This FIR indicated the existing turf war between the top officials in the agency.
Also prior to this FIR, Mr. Asthana filed a complaint against the Director Mr. Verma , accusing him of interfering in a corruption case involving family members of RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav. The agency had denied the charges against the Director and said that Mr. Asthana was under probe in half-a-dozen cases and was trying to intimidate officials probing his role.
With this battle getting murkier with each day passed, both Verma and Asthana have been stripped of their powers and sent on leave.
Verma, however, has challenged the decision.
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