Moin Qureshi bribery case: Delhi High Court stays coercive action against Sathish Babu Sana

The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed any coercive action against Hyderabad businessman Sathish Babu Sana in relation to the money laundering case involving controversial meat exporter Moin Qureshi and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) [Sathish Babu Sana v CBI]..Sana challenged the order of the Special Court which allowed the application filed by the CBI seeking his voice sample. He argued that the agency had moved an application calling him a suspect, even though he was just a witness in the case.The petition filed through Advocates Stuti Gujral, Sahil Ghai and Shaikh Bakhtiyar, argued that the only reason his status has been changed from that of a witness to an accused is because he filed a complaint against CBI’s former Special Director Rakesh Asthana. Appearing for Sana, Senior Advocate Siddharth Aggarwal told the Court,“From 2016 to 2018 they conducted an investigation and I gave a statement under 164 as a witness. Now they are calling me an accused. This is not a prerogative of the whims and fancies of an agency to change things every time…The only reason they don’t like me anymore is because I filed a complaint of extortion against its officer." .On Monday, Justice Mukta Gupta allowed the collection of his voice samples, but said that it would decide whether these samples are to be treated as those of an accused or a witness. The Court has also issued notice to the CBI in Sana’s plea, which was accepted by Advocate Ripudaman Bhardwaj.The Court was also informed that the investigation in the FIR based on Sana’s complaint against CBI officers is complete and that a chargesheet has been filed. The chargesheet has the names of three private persons, but no CBI officer.The matter has been listed for further hearing on January 19, 2021..In October 2018, Sana had filed a written complaint with the CBI against Manoj and Somesh Prasad, alleging that they were extorting money from him in the name of a high-ranking CBI official promising that they will help him. Based on this complaint, CBI registered a case against the Prasad brothers as well as the Investigating Officer in that case Devender Kumar, and Rakesh Asthana, who was then Special Director of the CBI.This FIR led to a turf war in the country’s premier investigation agency. While allegations were made against Asthana that an amount of ₹5 crore was agreed to avoid Sana’s further harassment by the CBI, Asthana alleged that it was CBI Director Alok Verma who took a bribe of ₹2 crore to provide him relief from arrest. The government had removed both Verma and his deputy Asthana from the CBI. While Asthana is now the Commissioner of the Delhi Police, Verma has resigned from the service.