The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the CBI Director to be present before the court on February 10 if the agency fails to complete investigation into the bribery case allegedly involving its former special director Rakesh Asthana.
Justice Vibhu Bakhru questioned the agency for repeatedly seeking extension of time to complete the probe. The CBI had last month asked the court for extension of time.
The FIR was registered on October 15, 2018 against Mr. Asthana, then Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar and alleged middleman Manoj Kumar Prasad and others on a written complaint of Satish Babu Sana containing allegations of harassment and extortion in connection with investigation of a case related to meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi.
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Money extortion
Mr. Sana had alleged that he was harassed to extort money and had already paid ₹3 crore on different occasions.
After dismissing the pleas of Mr. Asthana, Mr. Kumar and Mr. Prasad to quash the FIR registered against them, the High Court had on January 11, 2019, directed the CBI to complete the probe in 10 weeks. The court had pointed out that the allegations of bribery against Mr. Asthana could only be known after a thorough inquiry.
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Subsequently, the court has been extending the time for the investigation on the CBI’s plea. It granted the agency four more months on May 31, 2019 to conclude the probe.
The time was extended again on October 9, 2019, for two months. The court said the investigation could not be delayed indefinitely.
During the course of the proceedings last year, the CBI has filed a status report detailing the steps taken to complete the investigation.