CBI top bosses sent on leave, reins handed over to joint director Rao

Alok Kumar Verma. Pic/PTI

Feuding CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana have been divested of their powers and sent on leave, capping overnight discussions that led to the agency's reins being handed to a joint director as an interim measure on Wednesday. It is the first such case in the history of the investigating agency, sources said, as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the media that the government's decision to remove the CBI's two top officers was based on CVC's recommendations.

Joint Director M Nageswar Rao, a 1986-batch Odisha cadre IPS officer, was appointed to look after the "duties and functions" of the director with "immediate effect" as an "interim measure".
A late night order on Tuesday from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi sent Verma and Asthana on leave. On Tuesday evening, the CVC recommended after a meeting that Verma and Asthana be sent on leave and a SIT be formed to probe the allegations against them.

A SIT will look into the charges and both officers will "sit out" the duration of the probe, Jaitley told the media after a Cabinet briefing, adding that they have been sent on leave as an interim measure. He said it is absolutely essential to restore the agency's institutional integrity and credibility.

Verma was not cooperating with CVC: Centre
CBI Director Alok Verma was divested of his charge, as he was not cooperating with the CVC, and had created "wilful obstructions" in the functioning of the anti-corruption watchdog, the government said. "The CVC observed that the CBI director has been non-cooperative with the Commission, non-compliant with the requirements or directions of the Commission and has created wilful obstructions in the functioning of the Commission, which is a constitutional body," Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said in an official release.

Centre, CVC's move illegal, says Verma
CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma told the Supreme Court that divesting him of his powers "overnight" by the Centre amounts to interference in the independence of the agency whose probes against "high functionaries" may not take the line desirable to the government.

CBI reshuffles team probing bribery case
The CBI has overhauled the team probing allegations of corruption against its former Special Director, bringing in completely new faces, officials said. Changes have been effected from the investigation officer to the supervisory level, they said.

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