AHEAD OF SC HEARING, CBI RELIEVES ANOTHER 2G PROBE SLEUTH
Wednesday, 01 April 2015 | PNS | New Delhi
Notwithstanding several court orders and observations, the CBI on Tuesday relieved its Joint Director Ashok Tewari, who was in- charge of the 2G and Aircel-Maxis scams-related probes. The CBI’s move came a day before the Supreme Court is to hear the petition against shifting Tewari to a redundant division called Multi Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA) in connection with probes in the conspiracy angles in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Tewari, who has been in charge of the 2G and Aircel probes for the past two years, was shifted to MDMA in the first week of February. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had filed petition in the Supreme Court challenging CBI’s move of shifting the key officer in charge of 2G and Aircel-Maxis probes. The case is listed for argument on Wednesday before the 2G Bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu.
Though CBI officials claim the officer’s tenure had ended on March 31, several courts as well as the 2G Bench had repeatedly instructed the government to retain the key officers in connection with the probes. The 1993-batch IPS officer has now been relieved to his parent cadre Himachal Pradesh. Earlier also, in a similar incident, the SC had intervened and re-instated Enforcement Directorate’s Investigating Officer Rajeshwar Singh in September 2014
Swamy in his petition alleged that Tewari was shifted from the 2G probes after he ordered for probe in the irregularities of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case. Chidambaram was questioned by CBI on December 6, three months after the agency named his role in the chargesheet against Maran. CBI had also registered Preliminary Enquiry into the role of Chidambaram in the approval of Swan-Etisalat deal.http://www.dailypioneer.com/nation/ahead-of-sc-hearing-cbi-relieves-another-2g-probe-sleuth.html