Rakesh Asthana's appointment as CBI Special Director questioned
He had also handled the probe in the case relating to the burning of Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station in 2002.
New Delhi: Advocate Prashant Bhushan, through Common Cause, has moved the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as CBI special director as being illegal, arbitrary, mala fide and in violation of the principle of impeccable integrity and institutional integrity.
Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, one of the key cases he has been handling in the CBI was against Lalu Prasad Yadav, where the former railway minister has been accused of several irregularities in tenders during his term as railway minister in 2006.
He had also handled the probe in the case relating to the burning of Sabarmati Express at Godhra railway station in 2002.
The petition said the attributes of integrity have been held to be sine qua non for appointment to such a key position in an integrity institution such as the CBI. Adherence to the letter of the statutory law in such appointments is necessary for upholding the rule of law and for enforcement of the rights of the citizens, it said.