CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana can’t be arrested till next hearing on Oct 29 : Delhi HC
CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana (File Photo/Facebook)
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ordered that no action can be taken against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana until next hearing scheduled on October 29 (Monday), reported news agency ANI.
This meant that he cannot be arrested till Monday when his petition against the case will be heard.
The agency reported that the matter was mentioned before Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice VK Rao.
Central Bureau of Investigation Special Director Rakesh Asthana on Tuesday had moved the Delhi High Court seeking interim protection from arrest and quashing of an FIR in connection with bribery allegations against him.
Earlier in the morning, the arrested CBI Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devender Kumar had also moved the High Court challenging his arrest.
Kumar was arrested on Monday for fabricating documents in the bribery allegations case against Asthana. Meat exporter Moin Qureshi, who is facing multiple cases of money laundering and corruption, had paid a bribe to get a case against him settled, the CBI said.
According to the CBI, Kumar fabricated the statement of Sathish Sana, a witness in the Qureshi case, showing he recorded the statement on September 26 in Delhi. However, investigation has revealed that Sana was not in Delhi on that day. He was in Hyderabad and joined the investigation only on October 1.
Kumar’s arrest comes a day after the CBI registered an FIR against Asthana, Kumar and two others. The CBI has alleged that bribes were taken at least five times in December 2017 and October 2018.
Asthana, a 1984 batch Indian Police Service officer of the Gujarat cadre, is accused of accepting a bribe of Rs 2 crore from a businessman who was being investigated in the Qureshi case in order to “wreck” the investigation. The case was being examined by a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Asthana.
By EP Web Desk
(With Inputs From IANS)