The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a fresh petition filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan seeking Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe against Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials, including its Special Director Rakesh Asthana.
A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi, however, has not given any date for hearing the petition. “We will look into the issue,” the bench of the top court said.
Bhushan, appearing for NGO ‘Common Cause’ today mentioned the matter before the top court seeking quashing of the order against CBI Director Alok Verma and appointment of M Nageshwar Rao as the interim director of the investigating agency.
After a spell of the internal fighting in the premier investigating agency, the Centre divested Verma and Asthana from their roles and asked them to go on leave. The two officials were at loggerheads on several issues and accused each other of blocking investigation of important cases.
The CBI had recently filed an FIR against Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe from a businessman, who was linked to Moin Akhtar Qureshi case. Asthana was heading the SIT that was probing Qureshi’s case.
Amid this tug of war, Rao was appointed as the interim director of the CBI with immediate effect on Wednesday.
