Bassi in his petition has challenged his transfer and claimed that he has “incriminating” evidence against Asthana. He claimed that he has evidence of Rs 3.3 crore bribe paid to those mentioned in the FIR
New Delhi: AK Bassi, the CBI officer who probing the corruption charges against special director Rakesh Asthana and was transferred to Port Blair after the rejig, has moved the Supreme Court seeking an SIT probe in the Moin Qureshi case.
According to News18.com, Bassi in his petition has challenged his transfer and claimed that he has “incriminating” evidence against Asthana. He claimed that he has evidence of Rs 3.3 crore bribe paid to those mentioned in the FIR. He has cited WhatsApp messages and calls as evidence.
In a complaint to the Central Vigilance Commission, Asthana had alleged that Bassi was carrying out "roving inquiries" against him on the directions of Alok Verma.
The Delhi High Court has directed the CBI to maintain status quo till November 1 on the criminal proceedings initiated against Asthana, who has challenged the FIR lodged against him.
The internal feud in the country’s premier investigating agency case started with a statement Hyderabad-based real estate agent Sathish Sana recorded in a bribery case allegedly involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi.
On Monday, accused businessman Satish Sana sought Supreme Court protection after being summoned by the investigation agency for interrogation.
In his statement to the CBI, Sana had said he paid a bribe of Rs 2 crore to Asthana for getting rid of any action in an investigation linked to meat exporter Moin Qureshi. The money was paid over a 10-month period -- starting from December 2017.
Based on his statement, the CBI had filed a First Information Report or FIR against Asthana. It was alleged that Sana had paid Rs 50 lakh as bribe to Qureshi, which was shown as an investment in his company, to get relief in a bribery case.
A Special Investigation Team led by Rakesh Asthana was probing the matter and was repeatedly questioning Sana in this regard as it suspected him of lying in the matter.
On Friday, the Supreme Court said it would supervise the inquiry against CBI Director Alok Verma and the probe should conclude in two weeks. It also appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice A K Patnaik to monitor the investigation. The matter will be heard again on November 12.
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