CBI: Internal rift becomes public

New Delhi: The internal rift in CBI became public after the content of the letter which was sent by the agency to the Central Vigilance Commission became public.

According to the report published in NDTV, in one of the letters, it was said that Mr. Asthana cannot be consulted for the appointment of CBI’s officers. It also cited the reason for such a stand. It was said that Mr. Asthana’s role was under the scanner of the agency. The letter was signed by Joint Director (Policy), Mr. AK Sharma. Mr. Sharma is reportedly close to BJP President Mr. Amit Shah.

It may be mentioned that Rakesh Asthana who was the head of the State Special Investigation Team had investigated the Sabarmati Express incident in Godhra in February 2002. He is reportedly close to PM Modi.

Mr. YC Modi, another officer is in the competition to achieve the top post. Presently, he is the Head of National Investigation Agency.

In the month of October 2017, many raised questions over the appointment of Mr. Rakesh Asthana as the CBI Special Director. A petition was also filed in the Supreme Court by NGO Common Cause. It alleged that the appointment is illegal as his name had reportedly appeared in a diary recovered from the premises of Sterling Biotech.

Supreme Court had dismissed the plea and said that Asthana’s appointment does not suffer from any illegality.

Meanwhile, Congress party alleged that rifts in CBI show political influence on the agency.