Section 384, Indian Penal Code: Punishment for extortion

Section 388: Extortion by threat of accusation of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life

Section 389: Threatening a person with accusation of an offence in order to commit extortion

Section 468: Forgery for cheating

Section 471: Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record

The CBI stripped itself before a court on Tuesday, revealing “an extortion racket being run in the garb of investigation” and slapping on one of its own officers multiple charges usually reserved for thugs.

The litany of charges listed above were added on Tuesday to a first information report that names the CBI’s No. 2, special director Rakesh Asthana, and Devender Kumar, a deputy superintendent of police.

It was a milestone moment: not only were the worst fears about India’s premier investigating agency — which were so far confined to whispers — being aired on record but the dirtiest chapter in the agency’s history was being written under the nose of a Prime Minister who had stormed to power four years ago on the pledge of cleaning the dung-caked stables.

Asthana, who is locked in a turf war with his boss and CBI director Alok Verma, and Kumar, who was arrested on Monday, have been accused of taking bribes from a suspect.

Asthana in turn has accused Verma, the CBI chief, of taking bribes from the same suspect to spare him from repeated questioning. The sordid affair has taken a murkier turn with the CBI accusing Kumar, said to be part of the Asthana camp, of fabricating the suspect’s statement to

corroborate the charges the No. 2 (Asthana) has levelled against the No. 1 (Verma).

Both Asthana and Kumar had more or less a bad day in court on Tuesday — the special director in Delhi High Court and the subordinate officer in a lower court.

Delhi High Court did not readily accept Asthana’s plea to quash the FIR, saying “the nature and gravity of the case is serious”. But the court restrained the agency from arresting him till October 29 when the matter will be heard again.

Asthana had moved the court in haste to seek protection from what had looked like imminent arrest after CBI director Verma stripped the No. 2 of all powers and responsibilities, suggesting that the war was raging unabated in spite of the Prime Minister’s intervention on Monday.

“Nobody is reporting to Asthana now as he has been stripped of all responsibilities. He is not supervising any case as he himself is facing bribery charges. It has now become untenable for Asthana to remain in the agency. The government does not seem to have any option but to either transfer him or repatriate him to his parent Gujarat cadre,” said a CBI officer.

In his plea, Asthana, a 1984-batch, Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, requested the court to issue directives that no coercive action be taken against him. The court refused to stay the proceedings.

Asthana’s team member Kumar was produced before a trial court and was sent to CBI custody for seven days.

“The probe has just begun. Devender was part of an extortion racket being run in the garb of investigation in the CBI,” Vivek Saxena, the agency’s counsel, told the court.

The high court issued notices to the department of personnel and training (DoPT) on the separate pleas of Asthana and Kumar. The CBI is under the administrative control of the DoPT, which reports to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The court asked Asthana and Kumar to ensure the safe custody of all evidence, including phones and laptops, in their possession and to see they are not tampered with.

The separate petitions of Asthana and Kumar were mentioned before Chief Justice Rajendra Menon who allocated the matter for hearing before Justice Najmi Waziri.

Appearing for Asthana, senior counsel Amarendra Sharan told the court that the FIR and probe against the special director was illegal and mala fide. “This is a case of illegal registration of FIR against Asthana based on a statement of an accused. The FIR has also been registered without getting necessary approval from the competent authority under Sec 17A of the amended Prevention of Corruption Act,” Saran said.

“Is there any ban on the registration of FIR?” asked Justice Waziri.

Sharan told the court that “my client alleged that CBI director took bribes, he is now being prosecuted.”

The CBI has contended that the case concerning Asthana and Kumar relates to bribery and not abuse of official position in connection with a decision taken on policy, and it does not fall under the purview of Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.