Asthana case: CBI's response sought to businessman's plea

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked CBI and others to respond to businessman Satish Babu Sana's plea for being heard as a party in the ongoing applications by Special Director Rakesh Asthana and another CBI officer seeking quashing of the FIR against them.

Justice Najmi Waziri asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Verma and Asthana to file their response to Sana's application seeking impleadment in the matter.

However, Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee, who was representing the CBI, told the court that there was no need to implead Sana.

On Sana's complaint, the CBI had registered the First Information Report (FIR) against Rakesh Asthana and suspended Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Devender Kumar and others.

According to the CBI, Kumar had fabricated the statement of Sana, a witness in the businessman Moin Qureshi case, showing he recorded the statement on September 26 in Delhi.

However, investigation revealed that Sana was not in Delhi on that day. He was in Hyderabad and joined the investigation only on October 1.

Asthana and Kumar had moved the high court seeking quashing of the FIR registered against them.

On October 24, CBI chief Alok Verma was divested of his charge and Joint Director M. Nageshwar Rao was made the interim Director.

Asthana was also divested of all his supervisory responsibilities.

The government took the decision after Verma and Asthana accused each other of taking bribes.

Sana, in his application has sought impleadment in the matter to assist and enable the court to effectively adjudicate the petitions.

Sana told the court that after registration of FIR against Asthana, things started taking a different shape and have been moving in a direction that has made the applicant worry about his complaint.

"...the registration of FIR on the complaint of the applicant (Sana) has become a bone of contention and allegation between two heavyweights of the premier investigating agency of the country and the applicant (Sana) has become a mute spectator looking for redressal of his grievance which is getting overshadowed by the tussle between them (Asthana and Verma)," read the plea.

The businessman also apprised the court that the entire team investigating the matter has been changed and the focus has shifted to a different area, he said.

Sana expressed his apprehension that he might be arrested in order to create pressure and to make him retract his statements and complaint.

In his plea, he has also sought a direction to the CBI for not taking any coercive step against him.

He also apprised the court that he has co-operated in the investigation and appeared before the CBI and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) whenever required.

--IANS

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