The infighting within the Central Bureau of Investigation seems unending. The latest development is CBI Deputy Inspector General, Anti-Corruption Branch, Nagpur, MK Sinha’s November 19 petition to the Supreme Court where he makes several startling allegations, including an allegation of interference against National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and bribery allegations against Union minister of state for coal and mines Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary.

In the petition, Sinha claimed that Chaudhary received “a few crores of rupees” in the “first fortnight of June 2018” for his intervention with certain senior officers of the CBI. As for Doval, Sinha alleged that he “interfered in the investigations against CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana and even stymied a search to be carried out at Asthana’s residence”. The petition goes on to make more startling allegations such as Doval’s alleged close acquaintance with Manoj and Somesh Prasad, middlemen who have been accused of providing “illegal gratification” to Asthana and CBI deputy superintendent of police Devendra Kumar in the case against exporter Moin Qureshi.

While the lead story for all Delhi editions of the four leading English dailies—The Indian Express, The Times of India, The Hindu and Hindustan Times—was the Reserve Bank of India, these allegations also made front-page news for them all.

The Indian Express headline stated, “NSA interfered in probe against Asthana: CBI DIG“. The piece details the several allegations made in Sinha’s petition, including the charges against Doval and Chaudhary. Express also carried an explainer on page 14.

The Hindu‘s headline stated, “NSA, Minister hampered Asthana probe: CBI officer“. While this piece doesn’t go into the details of each allegation, it carries an infographic listing the allegations made in Sinha’s petition against different stakeholders.

For Hindustan Times, the headline was “CBI officer names seniors, govt officials, minister in plea to SC“. However, it surprising that the front-page piece doesn’t name Doval or Chaudhary. It is only in the last paragraph on page 7 that the allegation of interference and bribery against Doval and Chaudhary, respectively, are made.

The headline for The Times of India’s front-page article was “Minister, NSA blocked Asthana probe: Shunted CBI DIG to SC“. The 120-word piece states that allegations were levelled against Chaudhary, NSA Doval, RAW special secretary Samant Goel, law secretary Suresh Chandra and even the cabinet secretariat. The paper provides full-page coverage of the allegations on page 14 under its “Politics & Policy” section. 

Deccan Herald and The Telegraph had Sinha’s petition as their respective lead stories. In its front-page report, “Explosive can of worms”, The Telegraph reproduced some of the allegations referenced in Sinha’s petition verbatim. The detailed piece runs over to page 4 where it nearly covers the second half of the page under the fold. The Telegraph also had a detailed infographic listing the charges against different personnel.

As for Deccan Herald, its Mangaluru edition led with the headline: “CBI feud turns murkier, officer drops big names“. Burying no details, the lead states the claims made in Sinha’s allegations, including those against Chaudhary and Doval. It says: “The war within the CBI turned more sensational on Monday amid claims in the Supreme Court that Minister of State Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary took a bribe of “a few crores of rupees” to settle a case, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval intervened in the probe against Special Director Rakesh Asthana.”

The Delhi edition of The Tribune and the Bengaluru edition of Deccan Chronicle also reported on Sinha’s petition on their front page. While Chronicle led with the headline, “NSA directed CBI chief on Asthana probe: Officer”, Tribune‘s headline stated: Doval, CVC, minister dragged into CBI feud.

As for TV news, NDTV and India Today did prime-time shows on the CBI war getting messier and murkier. Times Now and Republic TV, however, had other priorities. Times Now‘s big focus seemed to be on explaining “Why Is Agusta Middleman Christen Michel so important?” and detailing the alleged plot to kill the PM based on another “letter”. Meanwhile, the channel’s coverage during its primetime shows, the Newshour and India Upfront, failed to explain if the latest development within the CBI was any less important.

Meanwhile, Republic held debates on the Amritsar attack and whether Congress stopping workers from chanting “Bharat mata ki jai” reveals its mindset.

Yesterday, journalists had tweeted about the potential media coverage of the issue.

Note: The piece has been updated to reflect the coverage of The Tribune and Deccan Chronicle.