CBI infighting goes public

The government is choosing to ignore internal rivalries. But for how long will the PMO tolerate the bypassing of favoured officers? 

The CBI’s Rakesh Asthana, left, and director Alok Verma. (Photo: Ramesh Sharma)

Key to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's succ­ess as an administrator is his ability to run a tight ship. He puts his trust in a small group of bureaucrats, officers and party colleagues and leans heavily on them to keep the huge machinery of the government in running order. In ret­urn, this group can expect the PMs loyalty and support.

Rakesh Asthana, special director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is certainly part of the prime minister's inner circle. Asthana led a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry into the 2002 fire that killed 59 people, many of them kar sevaks returning from the disputed Babri Masjid site on the Sabarmati Express train, arguing that it was a carefully planned and meticulously executed criminal conspiracy at a time when the counter-narrative was that it was an accident.

As special director, second in command at the CBI, Asthana oversees several high-profile investigations, including those into disgraced billionaire Vijay Mallya, the AgustaWestland corruption scandal, former finance minister P. Chidambaram's son Karti in the INX Media case, and the land dealings in Rajasthan of a company belonging to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi.

So it is surprising that the prime minister's office has done so little, even behind the scenes, to support Asthana in his conflict with his superior, CBI director Alok Verma. Their antipathy became part of the news agenda last week when it was revealed that Verma, attending an Interpol meeting in Uruguay, instructed a junior officer to inform the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) that Asthana, the second in command, did not have Verma's authorisation to attend a CBI selection comm­ittee meeting in his stead. The meeting was necessary to induct new officers into the CBI. A letter sent from the CBI made a reference to Asthana and said he should not be allowed to attend the meeting as there was an investigation pending against him. Asthana's recommendation of an off­icer for a CBI post was also questioned in the letter as the officer was being investigated as a suspect in a case.

Verma had already regi­s­tered his objection when Asthana was appointed special director, so, insiders say, his unwillingness to trust Asthana should not come as a surprise. But for many close to the government, Ast­hana is a byword for integrity and efficiency. He has angered people on both the left and right sides of the political spectrum as a police officer. While his conclusions about arson on the Sabarmati Express countered the prevailing position and led to him being excoriated by left-wing and Muslim groups, his investigations into Asaram Bapu and his son for rapes and corruption made him a target for some right-wing Hindutva groups. Of late, supporters of Asthana say he had annoyed senior officials at the Bureau by warning the Centre about the involvement of a CBI officer in Mallya's departure for London.

Insiders say the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax department are riven by infighting, with Asthana and revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, both known to be close to the prime minister, the focus of opponents ire. The government is choosing to ignore internal rivalries. But for how long will the PMO tolerate the bypassing of favoured officers?

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