The government’s decision to remove feuding CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana triggered series of developmets this week . The feud in the Top agency of the country rocked the Modi govrnment as the opposition mounted pressure on it. The government defended its actions by scurrying up support for itself. Ina briefing, Arun Jaitley said it is based on the CVC’s recommendations, asserting that it is absolutely essential to restore the agency’s institutional integrity and credibility.
A Special Investigation Team will look into the charges and both officers will “sit out” the duration of the probe said Jaitley , adding that they have been sent on leave as an interim measure.The CBI’s number two officer Rakesh Asthana has questioned in the Supreme Court the government’s move to send him on compulsory leave along with his boss Alok Verma – the man he has accused of corruption. Mr Asthana’s petition, filed just moments before the top court’s hearing on CBI director Alok Verma’s petition, was not taken up by the top court.
Mr Asthana’s lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, a former attorney general, explained details of his petition to the Media

“(Asthana) says he has made a complaint with serious material against the director (Alok Verma) way back in August. That is being considered by the Chief Vigilance Commission. Nothing has happened so far. Why isn’t the probe being completed? Now with the court’s order, the probe will be completed in two weeks,” Mr Rohatgi said.
he allegations of serious corruption by the top two officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)—its chief Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana—is truly worrying since this is India’s premier investigation agency we are talking about.

This is not the first time the CBI’s top brass has faced such allegations of corruption. Former CBI chief AP Singh had to resign from his position as Member of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) following allegations of his links with UP-based meat exporter Moin Quereshi who was being investigated by the tax authorities. Another former CBI chief, Ranjit Sinha, was indicted by a Supreme Court-appointed panel for meeting several accused in the coal scam when the CBI was investigating the case; the SC also asked Sinha to keep off the 2G probe when it found the charges against him trying to help the accused to be credible. More recently, the dilution of Vijay Mallya’s lookout notice, that allowed him to flee the country, was also done by the CBI.

In this particular case, the CBI has even filed an FIR against its second-highest ranking official, accusing him of taking a bribe in a case relating to Sana Sathish Babu, one of the witnesses in the Moin Quereshi case. Sana has alleged he was asked to pay rS 5 crore to Asthana—of this, Rs 3 crore was to be paid in advance—to help in the case against him. A month ago, the CBI put out a statement that Asthana was being investigated in at least half a dozen other cases. Asthana, in turn, has levelled charges against Verma and said that the FIR against him is merely a diversion, to ensure Verma is not investigated. Apart from saying Verma called off the searches in a case involving RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Asthana has said Sana bribed Verma to put off his arrest; several other cases have also been cited.