CBI war: Rakesh Asthana stripped of all responsibilities

New Delhi, Oct 24: Special Director, Rakesh Asthana who has been booked by the CBI in an alleged bribery case has been stripped of all responsibilities in the agency.

"The Special Director, Shri Rakesh Asthana is divested of all supervisory charges with immediate effect," said a CBI order issued on Tuesday.

Some of the high profile cases that Asthana was heading including the one against Vijay Mallya, the AgustaWestland chopper case, coal scam related cases, the cases against Robert Vadra, Dayanidhi Maran and former Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Hooda land allocation case.

The order comes a day after the CBI arrested a member of Asthana's SIT, Devender Kumar. A deputy SP in CBI, Kumar was remanded in police custody for seven days. The court had rejected his contention that his arrest is a violation of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act as there is no prior approval from the competent authority.

The judge said that prior approval is not needed as the alleged conduct does not relate to any recommendation or decision taken by the accused/public servant in discharge of his official duties, being investigating officer of that case, because the case is still pending investigation.

The CBI had accused Kumar of falsification of records, which was used in a complaint against Asthana against CBI Director, Alok Verma.