Days Before Meeting on New CBI Dir., Interim CBI chief Nageswara Rao transferred 20 officials
NEW DELHI : Interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao, whose appointment has been challenged in the Supreme Court, transferred 20 officials on Monday including among those shifted out is the investigating officer of the case probing allegations of loan fraud against fugitive jewelers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. Rao’s appointment as interim director has been challenged by activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court, which is likely to hear the matter on January 24.
The investigation officer of the 2G scam case, Vivek Priyadarshi. Priyadarshi, posted in the Anti-Corruption Branch in Delhi, has been transferred to Chandigarh. The transfers were ordered just before a high-powered selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to pick a new CBI director after the controversial sacking of Alok Verma. The panel meets on Thursday.
The transfer order, however, states that all the officers who have been specially directed to supervise, investigate or inquire into any case or matter by any constitutional court, shall continue to do. According to an official order, SK Nair, who was investigating Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, was transferred to the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Mumbai. Mr Nair has been replaced by A Saravanan, a superintendent of police from Chennai, who was probing the Sterlite protest case.
A. Saravanan, who was probing the anti-Sterlite protests firing case in Tamil Nadu in which 13 people were killed, has been shifted to the banking, securities and frauds branch in Mumbai, which is handling the cases of loan default against diamond traders Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, among others, the order said. He will continue to investigate anti-Sterlite protests case, it said. Prem Gautam, posted in the special unit of the CBI which does internal snooping on officers as a vigilance measure, has been relieved from the position.
Alok Verma challenged the move and was partially reinstated by the Supreme Court earlier this month. In the two days that he went to work before he was transferred again by the PM-led committee, he reversed the transfers ordered by Mr Rao, mainly of officers on his team. Mr Verma also ordered more transfers. All his decisions were scrapped again when Mr Rao returned as interim chief.
(With Agency Inputs ).
