HC asks CBI to file details of probe in Rakesh Asthana case

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the CBI to file a timeline of events relating to the ongoing investigation in a bribery case involving the agency’s former special director Rakesh Asthana and the need for sending Letters Rogatory (LRs) to various countries.

The court questioned the CBI for not sending the LRs till now even though it had passed in January the order dismissing the pleas of Asthana and two others seeking to quash the FIR.​

Justice Mukta Gupta said the document, to be filed through Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjit Banerjee, should also include when the requirement of issuing LRs came to the knowledge of the investigating officers and the details of the CBI officers who spent last 2-3 months on it.

“The ASG will prepare a list of dates and events indicating when the requirement of LRs came to the notice of the IOs. Who spent these 2-3 months and how, resulting in not sending the LRs till date,” the court said, asking the CBI to file the document in a sealed cover.

The court listed the matter for April 23 for further hearing on CBI’s application seeking more time to complete the probe in the case lodged against Asthana, DSP Devender Kumar and middleman Manoj Prasad.

On January 11, the court had granted 10 weeks to the CBI to complete its investigation.