CBI opposes Rakesh Asthana's plea in Delhi HC seeking dismissal of FIR with bribery charges; agency cites 'cognisable offences'

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday told the Delhi High Court that the FIR with bribery charges it registered against the agency’s special director Rakesh Asthana and three others shows cognisable offences. The CBI also opposed Asthana’s plea seeking to have the FIR quashed, saying a roving inquiry at this stage was not permissible. [caption id=“attachment_4166925” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rakesh Asthana. PTI[/caption] The CBI told the high court that the investigation against Asthana was at a nascent stage, and several incriminating documents, as well as the role of other suspects, was under investigation. The agency said it was handicapped in the inquiry at the moment as certain files and documents were under the scrutiny of the Central Vigilance Commission. The investigating agency also denied all the adverse allegations Asthana has levelled in his petition, “whether germane or not germane”. The petitions filed by Asthana, his second-in-command at the agency, Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, and the alleged middleman in the case, Manoj Prasad, are scheduled to come up for hearing before a bench of Justice Najmi Waziri in the Delhi High Court during the day. The CBI’s plea comes after the Delhi High Court ordered it to maintain status quo till 1 November on proceedings against Asthana, who was sent on leave by the government amid the bribery allegations and the infighting in the CBI with agency chief Alok Verma. Justice Waziri had questioned the CBI for not filing a reply to the pleas filed by Asthana and Kumar, seeking to have the FIR quashed. The high court had also directed the CBI to file a reply on the two pleas on or before 1 November. With inputs from PTI