CBI says Asthana's complaint agnst its chief malicious

The CBI on Friday said its second-in-command Rakesh Asthana's complaint to the CVC against its chief Alok Verma is "malicious" and "frivolous".

In an unusual move, the Central Bureau of Investigation issued a statement after reports about Asthana filing a complaint before the Central Vigilance Commission alleging interference in the probes undertaken by the special investigation team under him.

"It is unfortunate that baseless and frivolous allegations are being made public without proper verification of facts to malign the image of the Director CBI and intimidate the officials of the organization," the statement said.

It said the CVC has asked for certain case files from the CBI on the basis of a complaint filed by the agency's special director.

In its response to the CVC letter, the CBI's chief vigilance officer (CVO) pointed out that the complaint is an attempt by the complainant to intimidate the agency's officers who are investigating his role in at least half a dozen cases.

The CBI said the "CVC should opine on the maintainability of the complaint and consider it malicious and frivolous in order to protect the integrity of the organisation".

"Irrespective of the maintainability of the complaint, CBI has provided most of the files as requested by the CVC and the remaining will be submitted soon. There is no substance in the media reports that CBI is not cooperating in the enquiry," it said.