Engaged by industrialist Vijay Mallya’s lawyer in the UK court, a senior professor from University of London has submitted a statement citing Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana’s promotion to allege CBI’s lack of integrity, reported The Indian Express.
According to the report, Professor Lawrence Saez from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, submitted a “statement of impartiality” in the UK court. He has identified himself as “a leading expert on the government and politics of South Asia.
“Concerns about the lack of independence by some criminal investigation agencies, like the ED and CBI, also suggest an overall lack of integrity in the way that criminal investigations and prosecution are carried out in India,” the report quoted from Saez’s statement.
Citing the appointment of the Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana, the statement said, “There were serious concerns raised by the Vigilance Commission… surrounding the CBI’s additional director Rakesh Asthana’s recent effort to win promotion as special director of the CBI. The CVC, India’s leading anti-corruption government agency, opposed Mr Asthana’s promotion on account of issues regarding the integrity clause, because his name appeared in a list of bribe takers of a company investigated by the CBI… Despite seriousness of the allegations against Mr Asthana, he was nonetheless promoted as the CBI’s special director.”
According to the report, Saez’s statement confirms that he received instructions from Mallya’s lawyer Anand Doobay and on Boutique Law LLP in connection with the ongoing extradition proceedings against Mallya.
In the court, Mallya, in his defence against India's request to extradite him in a money laundering case, Mallya had called himself a political victim drawing parallels between himself and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh.