After almost a decade, the country’s premier investigative agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), will not have a full-time director, with the government handing over additional charge of the post of director to a Gujarat cadre IPS officer, Rakesh Asthana, currently its additional director, following the superannuation of Anil Kumar Sinha on Friday.
A 1984 batch IPS officer, Mr. Asthana is considered to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. He was appointed to the CBI by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in April this year.
Curiously, two days before Mr. Sinha’s superannuation, the second-in-command in the CBI, R.K. Dutta, Special Director, was unexpectedly moved to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as Special Secretary, apparently to pave way for Mr. Asthana’s appointment as officiating head of the body.
In the CBI, Mr. Dutta was seen as natural successor to Mr. Sinha.
As Special Director, Mr. Dutta handled two very important Supreme Court-monitored cases — the 2G spectrum allocation and the coal block allocation cases — in which high-profile politicians and businessmen are facing trial.
Committee not called
The CBI director is picked by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India for a two-year term. However, the Modi administration did not call a meeting of the committee to select Mr. Sinha’s successor in the agency.
On Friday evening, the MHA issued Mr. Asthana’s order.
In Gujarat, Mr. Asthana was considered close to the State government and held important posts, including in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that probed the Godhra train burning case of 2002.
He also served as Commissioner of Police in Vadodara and Surat.
In his earlier stint in the CBI, Mr. Asthana had probed Bihar’s infamous fodder scam, in which the then Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav, was among the top accused.
‘A dynamic officer’
Meanwhile, former CBI director R.K. Raghavan welcomed Mr. Asthana’s appointment.
“Rakesh Asthana’s appointment as Interim CBI Director will be welcomed by all those who want credibility restored to the organisation, after it had suffered at the hands of a few recent chiefs,” Mr. Raghavan said, calling Mr. Asthana a dynamic officer with a reputation for integrity and professional acumen.
“Under his leadership, the CBI is bound to fulfil all expectations at speed in the fight against corruption,” Mr. Raghavan added.
