Supreme Court dismisses petition challenging appointment of Rakesh Asthana as special director of CBI

Petitioner Prashant Bhushan had earlier dubbed Asthana's new posting as 'illegal.'

File photo of Rakesh Asthana.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by Prashant Bhushan challenging the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as special director of Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI).

Bhushan had earlier dubbed Asthana's new posting as 'illegal.'

He further said that Asthana's name figures in the diary of Sterling Biotech, against which the CBI itself has registered an FIR. Earlier in August, the CBI's Delhi unit had registered an FIR against three senior Income Tax Commissioners for accepting bribes from the Gujarat-based Sterling Biotech and Sandesara Group of Companies.

Bhushan had also alleged that the government wanted to appoint its own choice as interim CBI Director "even if it meant bypassing the statutory law, the norms of propriety, and the directions contained in the Vineet Narain`s judgement".

(With ANI inputs)