The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the CBI on a plea by an officer, who investigated a bribery FIR against then special director Rakesh Asthana, challenging the January 11 order to shift again him to Port Blair.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna sought a response also from interim CBI director M Nagheswara Rao within six weeks on a writ petition filed by DSP Ajay Kumar Bassi, who contended his transfer would affect “purity of the investigation”.

Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the officer was first transferred to Port Blair on October 24. He was brought back to Delhi by then CBI director Alok Verma on January 9 after the top court reinstated him but he was again reverted back to the same place by the interim director on January 11.

Bassi's petition claimed, “He is being victimised by the present ‘acting/ interim’ director CBI Rao, who represents certain elements within the CBI, who did want the petitioner herein to conduct a free and fair investigation in the Asthana FIR.”

It was Rao who had passed "the infamous" transfer order on October 24 and it is again the same Rao at whose behest and direction to transfer him order has been passed, “in utter disregard" to the judgment of this court in Alok Verma case, it added.

He claimed his transfer was pursuant to “a deep-rooted conspiracy, aimed at influencing the course of the investigation against Asthana and further to penalise him for discharging his duties in a free and impartial manner”.

The petitioner apprehended that the course of investigation in the FIR against Asthana will be influenced in such a manner that investigators will soon be arraigned as accused persons. He pointed out that the investigation in the case already been handed over to CBI SP Sathish Dagar.