AMN / New Delhi
The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition which challenged the appointment of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana as a Special Director of the premier probe agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
A division bench, headed by Justice R K Aggarwal, refused to quash the appointment of Mr Asthana, after finding no merit in senior top court lawyer Prashant Bhushan’s petition.
The Centre opposed the plea, saying Mr. Asthana had had an outstanding career and supervised over 40 high profile cases, including the coal and AgustaWestland scams, black money and money laundering.
The petitioner, Common Cause, an NGO, opposed Asthana’s appointment, saying it was illegal as his name had surfaced in a diary recovered during a raid conducted by the Income Tax Department at the offices and other premises of Sterling Biotech Ltd.
The Centre, however, claimed that mR. Asthana, who was an additional director in the CBI, was looking after its 11 zones.