Agencies

NEW DELHI: The rift between the top two officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation has reached the doorstep of the cabinet secretary after a high-level complaint to the Prime Minister’s Office forced differences to be put on record. CBI special director Rakesh Asthana , who’s been the target of most of these allegations, has officially apprised the cabinet secretary recently of the details of cases under his watch and the genesis of the confrontation between him and CBI director Alok Verma, EThas learnt.This, according to people aware of the matter, became necessary after BJP MP Subramanian Swamy lodged a complaint and publicly accused some officials in the agency for holding up investigation into a number of sensitive cases. This included the Vijay Mallya and Aircel-Maxis cases. According to information now officially made available to the cabinet secretary, the case against Vijay Mallya was initially registered under IPC Section 409, which is essentially for criminal breach of trust, until Asthana took over the case and converted it into a case of fraud under IPC Section 420.The first chargesheet was filed under Asthana’s watch in January 2017. It was only after this, the CBI special director has informed the government, could dual criminality be established under UK laws, making it possible for extradition proceedings to start.On the Aircel-Maxis matter, Asthana has let the government know that he was handed the case only in December 2016, about eight months after he had joined the organisation. And by February 2018, a chargesheet had been submitted to the CBI director for approval. It was eventually filed in July this year.The differences, which are now on record with the cabinet secretary, apparently cropped up when the CBI director wanted to make two appointments to the CBI — RP Upadhyay and Rajeev Krishna Both these names were objected by the internal vigilance unit of the agency but were still pursued by the CBI director.Both candidates, as per the version conveyed by Asthana, were linked to senior Enforcement Directorate officer Rajeshwar Singh who has levelled allegations against finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia for “going slow” in Aircel-Maxis probe.Upadhyay apparently had worked with Singh in the past while Krishna is said to be related to him. Both names were eventually struck down by the CVC-led selection panel which vets officers being inducted into the CBI. Sai Manohar, the joint director (policy) who compiled the vigilance reports, was then shifted within the CBI.Manohar’s extension was in the agenda of the CVC meeting last month for which Verma couldn’t be present. With Verma’s approval, a communication was sent to CVC that Asthana “cannot be consulted” instead of him. It was requested that the meeting be postponed but it was held in mid-July and Manohar, who is now with Asthana’s special investigation team, was granted extension.Asthana is also believed to have strongly denied allegations that he had met Mallya in London with the help of one of the Sandesara brothers — the Gujarat-based businessman being investigated by the agencies.Earlier, Asthana’s promotion to special director was contested because the CBI director had brought it to the CVC’s attention that his name figures in the Sandesara diaries recovered by the income tax department and is also being looked into by the ED.The matter reached SC, which ruled in Asthana’s favour. The entries, according to Asthana, related to accommodation he had rented to Sterling Biotech owned by Sandesara brothers.