NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate has recorded the statement of Jyoti Narayan, Joint Director General in the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), in connection with the case against journalist Upendra Rai, who has been accused of getting passes for access to airports using fraudulent means.
In the same case, last week, the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested BCAS official Rahul Rathore and Air One Aviation Private Limited chairman-cum-managing director Alok Sharma for their alleged role in the issuance of passes.
The name of Mr. Narayan, a 1996-batch IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh cadre, had recently come up when the Central Bureau of Investigation raised questions about the hurry purportedly shown by a committee headed by the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) in inducting officers into the agency.
It is learnt that there was a proposal for the officer’s deputation with the CBI.
The CBI is learnt to have filed repeated objections with the CVC in the recent past, on the issue of officials who are under scrutiny. The latest flashpoint came in response to a selection committee meeting scheduled for July 12.
In response, the CBI’s policy division said it had not received any agenda for the meeting and requested that it be given sufficient time in advance to conduct due diligence checks on the candidates being proposed for induction.
As the CBI Director was abroad on a visit, the agency also informed the Commission that its second senior-most official could not attend the meeting as he did not have the mandate to represent the CBI Director in such meetings.
Following media reports on the issue, the Congress party on Monday targeted the government asking who was behind the appointment of “tainted” officials in the CBI.
All appointments in the CBI above the rank of Superintendent of Police are approved by a five-member committee chaired by the CVC. It comprises two Vigilance Commissioners and Secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Department of Personnel and Training. The CBI chief, as an invitee, has to be consulted in the process.
