Published On : Tue, Oct 30th, 2018

Complainant against Rakesh Asthana to get security

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Hyderabad Police to provide adequate security to businessman Satish Sana, complainant in the alleged bribery case against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices U U Lalit and K M Joseph refused to stay the CBI summons against him and also rejected his plea for recording of his statement in presence of retired former Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik. Sana, on whose complaint an FIR was registered against the CBI Special Director, had moved the apex court on Monday seeking police protection and a stay on the notice issued by the agency summoning him for interrogation.

The CBI had booked Asthana on October 15 on the basis of a complaint from Sana, facing probe in a 2017 case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi, claiming that the special director had allegedly helped him to get a clean chit from the probe agency.

Besides seeking a stay on CBI’s summons against him, Sana in his petition had expressed fear for his life and sought police protection during the pendency of the inquiry against Asthana, who along side CBI Director Alok Verma has been divested of duties and sent on leave by the Central government.

The businessman, in his plea, had referred to the apex court’s October 26 order on the petition of the CBI Director by which the Central Vigilance Commission was asked to conclude inquiry against Verma within two weeks under the supervision of former apex court judge Justice A K Patnaik.

He had said that the CBI moved “in haste” to issue notice to him under Section 160 of the CrPC (Code Of Criminal Procedure) to attend the proceedings on October 29 before the probe agency and said that the same be recorded before Justice Patnaik.