SC rejects plea challenging Rakesh Asthana’s appointment as spl CBI director

A petition challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as a special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation has been rejected by the Supreme Court. The court rejected the petition that was filed by the advocate, Prashant Bhushan.

Bhushan, on behalf of NGO Common Cause, filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to quash Asthanas appointment in accordance with the Vineet Narain case.
The Common Cause in their petition said that the government did not follow rules and regulations while the appointment of the CBI Director.

The petitioner alleged that the government wanted to appoint its own choice as interim CBI Director "even if it meant bypassing the statutory law, the norms of propriety, and the directions contained in the Vineet Narain's judgment".

"The judgment in Vineet Narain's case had clearly held that the tenure of CBI Director would be two years. This was to ensure that there is no ad-hocism in the appointment and functioning of the CBI Director," the petition states."

Therefore, the petitioner submits that the government must be directed to comply with the mandate of the law and call for the meeting of the selection committee as per the DSPE Act, 1946 as amended by Lokpal Act, 2013," the petition adds.

Asthana was earlier an IPS officer in Gujarat and has played important roles in his career and has been given important posts like the Special Investigation Team, which probed the Godhra Train Massacre in the year 2002.

He has also served as the commissioner of the Police in Vadodara and Surat.In his earlier stint, he also accused the Chief Minister of Bihar in the infamous fodder scam.

OneIndia News