TWO ADVOCATES CLAIM TO REPRESENT CBI .... Mystery of multiple lawyers

TT & PTI, 02 Nov 2018, New Delhi: The havoc ravaging the CBI was on full display in Delhi High Court on Thursday when a law officer of the Centre turned up and claimed to be representing the federal agency even though another respected lawyer was already doing so.

The case in question brought out the significance of the attempt at intervention: the court was hearing a petition by benched CBI special director Rakesh Asthana to quash the bribery case FIR against him.

When an arrested co-accused and a fellow officer had sought bail on Wednesday, the CBI under the new interim chief had not opposed the plea. The arrested officer, Devender Kumar, was granted bail. Devender is counted in the camp of Asthana who is considered close to the Prime Minister. If the CBI was planning to take the same stand in the high court, too, when Asthana's petition came up, there was a catch.

Special public prosecutor K. Raghavacharyulu has been appearing for the CBI in the case. A respected lawyer, Raghavacharyulu had been hired when benched CBI director Alok Verma was in charge. It was under Verma's leadership that the bribery probe against Asthana had been initiated.

If someone thought a new lawyer should be parachuted on the fear that an adverse submission would be made against Asthana, the fear did not turn out to be misplaced.

The written submission filed Raghavacharyulu made it clear that "the FIR and the complaint clearly disclose the cognisable offences and accordingly the CBI has registered the FIR and proceeded with the investigation". The agency added that "the investigation is at nascent stage".