CBI To Finish Investigation Against Rakesh Asthana in 2 Months: Delhi HC

CBI had moved an application seeking extension of 3 months for further investigating corruption charges against Rakesh Asthana, Devendra Kumar and Manoj Sinha.

It was submitted in the sealed cover that the investigation is substantially over, however, more time is required as responses to Letter Rogatories sent to the USA and the UAE are still awaited. These LRs were sent last month and last week respectively.

The court also rapped the CBI for delaying the sending of LRs to the aforementioned countries while knowing that the investigation had to be finished by July. Justice Bakhru noted that the investigation should have been completed by now if the officers of the CBI could've functioned more efficiently.

Appearing for Asthana, Mr Dayan Krishnan argued that enough time had already been granted to the CBI and they still couldn't finish the investigation.

Mr Krishnan argued that the statutory deadline for completing the investigation is 60 days and the CBI Manual allows only for one year. 'Even if they're awaiting responses to LRs, why should the continuing investigation be delayed', Mr Krishnan submitted.

While granting an extension of 2 months, Justice Bakhru noted that no further extension will be granted by the court. 'If new developments come up, you can always file a supplementary chargesheet', the court noted.

In January, CBI was granted 4 months to investigate the charges in the present case. Later in May, an extension of 2 months was then granted to the investigation agency.