CBI vs Rakesh Asthana Is War, But He Catches Break From Another Agency

Rakesh Asthana, who is being roasted by the CBI, of which he is the No. 2 boss, scored some succor on Tuesday- the agency has been forbidden from arresting or raiding him till Monday; separately, in the case that induced allegations of his corruption, he has not been named by the Enforcement Directorate in the outline of the charges it presented in a Delhi court on Tuesday. 

Sterling Biotech, a Gujarat company, is being investigated by both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, for a 5,000-crore scam predicated on a family named the Sandesaras allegedly cheating banks and money-laundering the loans their company was given. The CBI contends that Mr Asthana hosted a lavish wedding for his daughter in Gujarat in 2016 and that various functions and festivities held at luxury hotels were paid for by the Sandesaras who were bribing CBI officials, including Mr Asthana, to ward off money-laundering charges. At the time of the wedding, Mr Asthana was an additional director with the CBI, making him one of the top officers of the agency.

The CBI last week named Mr Asthana in a case of corruption, accusing him of accepting three crores as a bribe from a businessman in the agency's crosshairs. Mr Asthana, forcefully denying the charges, alleges that it is his boss and CBI chief Alok Verma who is guilty of bribe-taking. On Monday, the CBI raided offices within its own headquarters in Delhi to collect evidence against Mr Asthana and his team, creating a one-of-a-kind, blockbuster scandal headlined as "CBI vs CBI".  

Mr Asthana served briefly as the CBI's interim chief for three months till Alok Verma was appointed as new Director in February 2017. His induction into the CBI from Gujarat was controversial and challenged by lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan who said that given that he was under scrutiny in the Sterling Biotech case, he should not be allowed into the country's premier investigating agency. Critics of Mr Asthana said that his ascension was enabled by his perceived proximity to BJP chief Amit Shah and that he was being used to handle "politically sensitive" investigations.   

The Enforcement Directorate in its complaint on Tuesday against Sterling Biotech has listed 191 people including members of the Sandesaras family. 

Mr Asthana has challenged the CBI's case against him in Delhi and a court on Tuesday said that no action against him can be taken till the next hearing on Monday; he had asked for the FIR or case against him to be cancelled. The court did not agree to that at this stage either.