New Delhi: A day after Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Centre and CBI over a petition accusing the former CBI director Alok Verma of illegally tapping National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s phone; the Centre has transferred CBI special director Rakesh Asthana, joint director Arun Kumar Sharma and deputy inspector-general Manish Kumar Sinha from the investigative agency with immediate effect. 

Asthana has been appointed as Commissioner of Security in the Bureau of Civil Aviation.

Alok Verma was removed as CBI director last week by the high powered  select panel led by PM Modi. Asthana and Verma had levied serious charged against each other and were sent on leave prior to Verma’s reinstatement on the Supreme Court’s order. Last week, the Delhi High Court refused to quash a case of corruption lodged against Asthana, while asking the CBI to complete the probe in 10 weeks. The government decision came following the HC decision.

The High Court had sought a reply from the Centre, inquiring the setting up of a Special Investigative Team to probe into the matter, as desired in the plea filed on the matter. The next hearing will take place on 26 March.

According to advocate Sarthak Chaturvedi, the petitioner, the phones of Doval and several other officers were tapped during the feud between former CBI Director Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana.

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice VK Rao issued a notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the CBI, seeking their responses on the plea.

Chaturvedi has asked the High Court to constitute a Special Investigation Team to look into the alleged abuse of power by some CBI officers “for their ulterior motive”.

He has also claimed that a special unit of the investigating agency that handles phone tapping and technical surveillance was aware of the communications between Doval and Asthana during the latter’s row with Verma. The special unit has placed many numbers on technical surveillance and it is analysing call data records, he alleged