CBI vs CBI: Court accepts clean chit to Rakesh Asthana

New Delhi, Mar 07: A CBI special court at Rouse Avenue Complex on Saturday accepted the investigative agency's clean chit to then special director Rakesh Asthana and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devender Kumar.

"There is no sufficient ground to proceed against Rakesh Asthana and DSP Devender Kumar. We will see if anything comes in future investigation being conducted by the CBI," Special CBI Judge Sanjeev Agarwal said.

The court took cognizance of the charge sheet and said that there are "sufficient grounds to proceed against accused Manoj, his brother Someshwar Prasad and father-in-law Sunil Mittal."

Now, the court has summoned both Someshwar Prasad and Mittal and asked them to appear on April 13.

The court took cognizance of the offences under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with 420 (cheating), 385 (extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 7 (expecting to be a public servant) and 8 (taking gratification) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Asthana and DSP Devender Kumar, who was arrested in 2018 and later got bail, were named in column 12 of the charge sheet in the case since there was not enough evidence to make them accused.

The CBI had registered the case against Asthana on the basis of a complaint from Hyderabad-based businessman Satish Sana, facing probe in a 2017 case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi.