Rakesh Asthana is the new CBI special director
Rakesh Asthana, Gujarat cadre IPS officer who has probed high-profile cases like the AgustaWestland scam and corruption in the Delhi government, has been made the CBI special director. Asthana, currently an additional director in the CBI, is now the second senior-most officer in the agency after director Alok Verma. Apart from him, seven other IPS officers of the 1984 batch have been promoted.
Asthana briefly served as CBI interim chief last year
Among Asthana's many cases were the Sabarmati Express burning and the Bihar fodder scam. Asthana, who's believed to be close to the Gujarat government, has served as the police commissioner in Vadodara and Surat, and as CBI's interim chief after Anil Sinha's retirement last December. He is among over 30 Gujarat officers who have been moved to Delhi after Narendra Modi came to power.
When Asthana became the subject of an SC hearing
Asthana's appointment as CBI interim chief was challenged in the SC as many felt he was too junior even to be considered a candidate. His appointment allegedly circumvented the need to call a selection committee meeting and also built an opportunity to make Asthana the CBI chief later. The SC asked why he was appointed after cutting short the tenure of a senior officer.
The other seven promotions apart from Asthana
Deepak Kumar Mishra and Sudeep Lakhtakia (both presently CRPF ADGs), and AP Maheshwari and Rajesh Ranjan (both presently BSF ADGs) have been made special DGs in their respective forces. Gurbachan Singh and Arvind Kumar, both IB ADGs, have also been promoted to senior director. Meanwhile, UP DGP Javeed Ahmed, former UP DGP and former CBI joint director, is now special DG at the Centre.
