NEW DELHI: Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana told the Delhi High Court that there was a “sustained social media campaign” against him and the legal challenge to his appointment as Delhi Police Commissioner was an “abuse of process of law, arising from vendetta”.
In his affidavit filed on a public interest litigation (PIL) against his appointment, Asthana said that ever since he was appointed Special Director, CBI, proceedings are being consistently filed against him by certain organisations as part of a ‘selective campaign’.
“There are two organisations namely Common Cause and Centre for Public Interest Litigations who are professional public interest litigants and exist only for filing litigations as the only way of public service. One or two individuals run both the organisation enjoying deep and pervasive control over these organisations,” the affidavit said.
“Individuals running them in recent past for some oblique reason have started barrage of selective actions against me either out of some vendetta about which I am not aware or at the behest of some individual/interest,” it added.
This vendetta is projected under the PIL cloak, it said, adding that the court may not allow such attempts. “Not only the process of law was abused, but also there was a social media campaign which justifies the apprehension of the deponent that the challenge to my appointment is the result of either some vendetta or is being conducted at the behest of some undisclosed people,” it said.