Chief Justice asks CBI’s AK Bassi: ‘Transferred To Andamans? Nice Place, stay for a bit’

CBI officer AK Bassi, who had challenged in the Supreme Court his abrupt transfer to the Andamans in an overnight shake-up in the investigating agency last month, was told today to ‘live there for a few days’.

With this comment, AK Bassi failed to get the court to put on hold his transfer order to Port Blair.

During the court session today, CJI Ranjan Gogoi had asked AK Bassi’s lawyer where was he transferred. To which he was informed that the concerned CBI officer was transferred to Port Blair. The, CJI said, “Nice place, stay for a bit.”

However, the court said that it would decide later on applications filed by Mr Bassi as well as by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who had questioned the centre’s decision to send CBI director Alok Verma on forced leave.

It is to be noted that, Mr Bassi was part of the CBI team that had been tasked by the director to investigate allegations of corruption against the agency’s number two officer Rakesh Asthana.

In a turn of events, after Alok Verma was sent on compulsory leave, M Nageswar Rao, who took over as temporary chief the same night (October 23), signed off on the transfer of about a dozen officers including Mr Bassi.

As per the transfer order, Mr Bassi was asked to shift to Port Blair immediately ‘in public interest’.

Meanwhile, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has submitted in the Supreme Court its report on decisions by Mr Rao. After going through the report, the court had said that the interim chief could only take administrative calls, not policy decisions.

Also read: Subramanian Swamy: Injustice done to CBI director Alok Verma