CBI row: The Central Government on Wednesday appointed Joint Director M Nageshwar Rao as the interim Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director with immediate effect. He was working as the joint director in the CBI. Rao will look after all the functions and duties of the CBI director.  The order stated, "The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved that during the period of the subsistence of the aforesaid interim measure, cited in reference above, Shri M Nageshwar Rao, IPS, presently working as Joint Director, CBI shall look after duties and functions of Director CBI and shall take over duties and functions with immediate effect." A new team headed by Satish Dagar has also been formed by Nageshwar Rao to impartially investigate bribery allegations against Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana.

Meanwhile, CBI Director Alok Verma filed a petition challenging the Centre's order asking him to proceed on leave, which now has been accepted by the Supreme Court. The court is likely to hear it on October 26. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the lawyer appearing for Alok Verma, told the Supreme Court that the central government in the morning asked Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana to go on leave compromising the investigation into many sensitive cases.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi on Wednesday said Verma's plea would be taken up on October 26 after his counsel pressed for an urgent hearing on the midnight order issued against the central probe agency's chief following an escalation of rift between the top officials at the Bureau over bribery charges. Verma had two more months to go before his tenure ends and the government cannot formally remove him, counsel contended.

The decision by the Modi government to send Verma and Asthana on leave came amid the internal squabble in the CBI. Earlier in the mornig, a raid was conducted at CBI headquarters. The 10th and 11th floors where CBI director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana sit were seized. CBI building has been sealed today and neither the staff nor the outsiders are being allowed to enter the building.


Who is M Nageshwar Rao 

Nageshwar Rao, an Odisha cadre IPS of 1986 batch joined CBI in 2015 as the joint director at Chennai and after two years he gets transferred to Delhi.
Before joining CBI, Rao was ADG fire services and home guard in Odisha. He served as SP in several districts. He was also on deputation in CRPF.

What is CBI Vs CBI matter

Earlier in the week, an FIR was filed by the CBI against special director Rakesh Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe from a businessman, who was related to controversial meat exporter Moin Akhtar Qureshi case. Asthana was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing Qureshi's case.

The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the CBI to maintain status quo on the criminal proceedings initiated against the agency's Special Director Rakesh Asthana and a trial court sent an arrested mid-level officer facing bribery charges to seven-day remand, as the unprecedented internecine battle between the two top officers of the CBI entered the judicial arena.

During the court hearing, the CBI also submitted that charges of extortion and forgery were added against Asthana and Devender Singh, a Deputy Superintendent police of CBI who was arrested Monday by the agency for allegedly taking bribe and falsification of records.

The high-voltage drama involving Asthana and his boss Alok Verma, the CBI Director, also provided more fodder to the Congress and other opposition parties to target the Centre which was accused of "destroying the country's institutions".

(With inputs from agencies)