NEW DELHI: The

, reeling from a lacerating internal fight, heaped more embarrassment upon itself on Tuesday by alleging in a Delhi court that its special director

and his junior, DSP Devender Kumar, were running an extortion racket in the garb of investigation.

The stunning charge by the CBI, which said it had added offences related to extortion to the FIR lodged against Asthana and others, helped the agency get Kumar’s custody but raised the possibility of the government stepping in to staunch the damage the sordid strife in the agency has been causing to its image.

“Considering the gravity of the offence and seriousness of allegations about the involvement of public servants, including the accused, I am of the opinion that police custody of accused Devender Kumar is necessary for proper investigation,” special CBI judge Santosh Snehi Mann noted in her order.

The day saw Asthana successfully moving the Delhi high court to secure an injunction against his possible arrest until October 29. Justice Najmi Waziri ordered status quo and forbade the CBI from taking coercive action. Kumar also moved the HC.

“Don’t disturb the equilibrium,” Justice Waziri told the CBI after a hearing and issued notice to its director Alok Verma, joint director A K Sharma and the department of personnel and training.

Asthana and Kumar have challenged the CBI’s decision to register a corruption case against them relating to their investigation of meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

The high court, however, refused to stay the probe against Asthana, and clarified that its status quo order applied to the CBI special director so long as he ensured that all electronic evidence, including mobile phones and messages in his possession, remained untouched.

The FIR against Asthana is seen as an extension of his fight with Alok Verma and the latter’s confidant, A K Sharma, a bloody tussle which has caused embarrassment to the government by giving an opportunity to rivals to mock its claim of effective governance and has raised apprehensions about the fate of the CBI’s investigation into high-profile corruption cases.

Sources said while the government’s alternatives were limited because of the autonomy conferred on the CBI, there was a realisation that staying aloof from the haemorrhaging developments was not an option.

The HC listed the matter for October 29 after CBI’s counsel K Raghavacharyulu sought time to bring on record various allegations and sections under which the FIR was lodged Senior advocate Amarendra Saran, appearing for Asthana, sought the court’s immediate intervention and argued that the CBI’s decision to lodge an FIR was “patently illegal and mala fide”.