IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao took over as the interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday. Nageshwar Rao is an Indian Police Services (IPS) officer of the 1986 batch from the Odisha cadre.
NEW DELHI: A government appointment committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi put out an order around 2am on Wednesday sending the Central Bureau of Investigation’s top two officials on leave and appointing a joint director as the interim head.
CBI Director Alok Verma has approached the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Central government to send him on leave.
The matter was mentioned today by advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who agreed to list the case on Friday.
The charges against Asthana in the FIR relate to his acceptance of a bribe of Rs. 3 crore by one Sathish Sana, who was involved in the Moin Qureshi case.
A feud between Verma and Ashthana had been simmering since before Asthana was promoted to the agency’s second-highest post last year.
Alok Verma calls his transfer illegal and says it violates the law that provides for a fixed tenure of two years. He says transfer of a CBI director has to be with the consent of the high-powered committee. The order sending him on leave bypassed the mandate of the committee.
The decision to send Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana on leave was taken around midnight and was followed by high drama at the Central Bureau of Investigation’s headquarters in New Delhi.
IPS officer M Nageshwar Rao took over as the interim director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday.
Nageswara Rao hails from Borenarsapur village in Warangal district. He was a post-graduate from Osmania University and did his research in Madras IIT.
With this appointment, Centre has put at rest all controversies and allegations surrounding the CBI especially in the context of AP government alleging harassment by CBI and IT officials.
