Rakesh Asthana

Rakesh Asthana (born 1961)[1] is an Indian Police Service officer of the 1984 batch of Gujarat cadre who served as the Special Director at the Central Bureau of Investigation. Currently, he is serving as Director General of Border Security force and Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau.[2]

Rakesh Asthana
Director General Border Security Force
Preceded byVivek Kumar Johri
Personal details
Born (1961-03-09) 9 March 1961
Ranchi (Now in Jharkhand) Bihar
Alma materJawaharlal Nehru University
Police career
CountryIndia
Batch1984
CadreGujarat

Early life and education

Rakesh Asthana was educated at Netarhat Residential School, Netarhat[3] and at the St. John's College, Agra.[4]

Investigations

Rakesh Asthana was given the responsibility to investigate the Fodder Scam, a corruption scandal that involved the embezzlement of about ₹9.4 billion (equivalent to ₹34 billion or US$540 million in 2017) from the government treasury of the eastern Indian state of Bihar He filed a charge sheet against Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1996. Lalu was arrested for the first time in 1997.

Asthana caught DGMS Director General taking bribes in Dhanbad. By that time, this was the first case of its kind in the whole country, when the officers of the Director-General had come under arrest.

Rakesh was given the responsibility of investigating the bomb blast on July 26, 2008 in Ahmedabad. He had settled the case within 22 days. Asthana had also examined the case of Asaram Bapu and his son Narayan Sai. The absconding Narayan Sai was caught on the Haryana-Delhi border.

Controversy

The NGO, Common Cause, had approached Court challenging Asthana’s appointment as Special Director on the grounds that his name had figured in a 2011 diary seized from Sterling Biotech – a company being probed by the CBI for money laundering. Asthana was not named in the FIR but was presumably the subject of an ongoing investigation by his own agency.[5][6]

Asthana was entangled in a bribery controversy along with Alok Verma, Special Director CBI in a corruption scandal; both accused each other of bribery and subsequently asked to go on leave by the Government, on the recommendation of the Central Vigilance Commission.[7]

Verma and Asthana were sent on leave on the recommendation of the CVC by the Government of India. Verma went to the Supreme Court of India to appeal and Asthana to Delhi High Court. Supreme Court cancelled the decision to send Verma on leave and Verma was reinstated as CBI director two months later with the instruction that he not take any major decisions till the Selection Committee decides his fate over the corruption charges.[8]

The investigation by the CBI has been completed, giving Rakesh Asthana a clean chit, which was accepted by the Special CBI Court.[9]

References
  1. "IPS Civil List".
  2. "Rakesh Asthana given additional charge of NCB DG". The Economic Times. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. बहुचर्चित चारा घोटाले का पर्दाफाश करने वाले IPS अफसर की दिलचस्प दास्तान Living Media India
  4. "Rakesh Asthana takes over as DG of Border Security Force". BW Businessworld.
  5. Analysis, The Wire. "As SC Upholds Controversial CBI Appointment, 'One Rakesh Asthana' Becomes Two - The Wire". thewire.in. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  6. Thakurta, Paranjoy Guha. "All Eyes On SC Hearing Challenging Rakesh Asthana's Appointment as CBI Special Director - The Wire". thewire.in. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  7. "In midnight move, govt divests Alok Verma of charge as CBI Director". The Indian Express. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  8. "Inside story of what happened in the selection committee which shunted Alok Verma". India Today.
  9. "Delhi Court accepts CBI clean chit to Rakesh Asthana in bribery case". Live Mint.
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