Amid power tussle at CBI, CVC gives go-ahead to extend tenure of key officers, including special director Rakesh Asthana's team

New Delhi: Amid reports of power tussle between CBI director and the second senior most officer, the Central Vigilance Commission has given the go ahead for extending the tenure of some key officers in the premier investigating agency including those who have worked closely in some high profile cases as part of special director Rakesh Asthana’s team. Among those whose tenure have been extended by a panel headed by Central Vigilance Commissioner KV Chowdary included a deputy inspector general (DIG) rank officer, who was recently repatriated to his cadre state Tripura, officials said on Sunday. However, the officer was called back to the agency soon after. Apart from this, the panel has cleared extension in deputation tenure of two other senior IPS officers who worked closely with Asthana in probing important cases including the one involving fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, they said. [caption id=“attachment_4731151” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The development comes days after the CBI wrote to the CVC saying that Asthana, a Gujarat cadre IPS officer, (and second senior-most officer) is not allowed to attend the panel’s meeting in absence of the agency’s director Alok Verma, they said. The CBI director is an invitee to the panel headed by the CVC. Those granted extension include two Joint Directors — AYV Krishna and Sai Manohar Aramane. Aramane is part of a Special Investigation Team handling politically-sensitive bank fraud case involving Vijay Mallya, headed by Asthana, the officials said. The competent authority has approved extension in tenure of Aramane, a 1995 batch IPS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, from 17 July, 2018 till April 2019, a recent order issued by the personnel ministry said. Aramane’s batchmate Krishna has also been given extension from 18 July, 2018 till 17 January, 2020, it said. The competent authority has approved extension in tenure of Manish Kishore Sinha from 3 April, 2018 to 30 November, 2018, the order said. Sinha, a 1996 batch IPS officer of Jammu and Kashmir cadre, is undergoing training at National Defence College, the officials said. He is joint director in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The tenure of another senior IPS officer Anish Prasad, who was in May repatriated to his cadre state Tripura and called back soon after, has also been extended from 3 June, 2018 to 5 May, 2020, according to another order by the personnel ministry. He is posted as deputy director (administration) in the CBI headquarters in New Delhi. The tenure of IPS officer Prem Kumar Gautam, associated with coal blocks scam probe, has also been extended. The approval of competent authority is conveyed for extension in the central deputation tenure of Gautam for a period from 27 January, 2018 till the date CBI gets permission/further direction from the Supreme Court, it said. The apex court, which is monitoring probe in the multi-crore coal block scam involving some politicians, businessmen and former bureaucrats, has said that no officer associated with the investigation should be removed from the team without its permission, according to the officials.