Tarun Gauba

Rakesh Asthana

CBI vs CBI: Tarun Gauba, officer who gave MP CM clean chit in Vyapam scam, to investigate allegations against Rakesh Asthana In the latest twist to the CBI slugfest, 13 officers have been transferred. CBI director Alok Verma has been sent on leave, so has Rakesh Asthana. The CBI officer probing Asthana has been transferred to Port Blair. DIG Tarun Gauba will probe corruption complaints against special director Rakesh Asthana.

Vyapam scam

CBI Director Alok Verma, Special Director Rakesh Asthana sent on leave CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana have been sent on leave amid an ongoing spat between them, sources said, calling it the first such case in the history of the agency.

Spat between CBI officers Rakesh Asthana, Alok Verma may impact SIT work, fear officials Special Director Rakesh Asthana-led investigation team is handling Rs 9,000-cr loan default by Mallya and Agusta Westland chopper scam

The CBI muddle is getting dirtier and more political. Now, DIGhas been assigned to head a team that will probe corruption complaints against special directorEarlier in the day, the Cabinet Committee appointed M Nageshwar Rao as interim director of CBI. Director Alok Verma and special director Rakesh Asthana have been asked to go on a leave.A top CBI source told Mirror that proper investigation into CBI officers' dealing is only a facade. "If it was genuine, any officer other than Gauba, with a cleaner and an apolitical track record should have been appointed," he said.Tarun Gauba is a 2001 batch IPS officer of UP cadre who will head a team to investigate his colleague Asthana. Asthana is Gauba's junior.Gauba is also believed to be close to the ruling BJP government at the Centre. Gauba's interesting investigations include theof Madhya Pradesh in which over 40 people had died under mysterious circumstances. This scam revolved around the medical entrance examination and admissions and was first unearth in 2013.Under the scanner, were politicians, senior and junior officials and businessmen who had allegedly manipulated the entrance exam procedures by bribing officials.Gauba and team had chargesheeted 86 people in this case. However, it must be noted that Gauba had given a clean chit to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the case. Gauba was later selected for the President's Medal for outstanding investigations in the Vyapam scam. He was given the meritorious service medal in 2017 on Republic Day.Gauba had earlier probed the Dera Sacha Saudha case as well.As far as investigations into the allegations against Rakesh Asthana go Gauba's team members include SP Satish Dagar and joint director V Murugesan.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that it was absolutely essential to restore the agency's institutional integrity and credibility."CBI is a premier institution of the country so maintenance of its institutional integrity is essential. The government's decision to remove CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana is based on the CVC's recommendations. A Special Investigation Team will probe the charges and both persons will sit out as an interim measure.""Not going into the merits of the case, that is a subject of investigation. The requirements of fairness and fair play have to be there," he added.AK Bassi, the officer probing the case against special director Rakesh Asthana has been transferred with immediate effect to Port Blair in 'public interest'. 13 officers have been reportedly transferred within hours of the government asking Asthana and CBI Director Alok Verma to proceed on leave.Quoting Vikas Singh, former ASG, ANI reported, "I maintain that the integrity of the institution (CBI) is the most important. In an extraordinary situation, the government has full authority to act. At this time, an open fight between the top two people spells doomsday for the institution."Prashant Bhushan who was the first person to challenge Asthana's appointment has now challenged the government's decision on asking Alok Verma to go on leave and appointing a new interim director without permission or deliberations with the collegium.Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had earlier tweeted saying, "What are the reasons for sending CBI director on leave? Under which law did the Modi govt get the authority to initiate action against the chief of an investigating agency appointed as per the Lokpal Act? What is Modi govt trying to hide?"Mamata Bannerjee has renamed CBI as BJP bureau of Investigation. Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi had questioned the CBI's credibility alleging that the BJP was using the agency as a political tool.