Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Ram Jethmalani has yet again embarrassed his party by openly supporting United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s decision of appointing Ranjit Sinha as the new Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Criticising senior leaders of the party, especially Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, for asking the government to keep the decision in abeyance till the time Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill is not passed by the Parliament, Jethmalani said that criticism of the decision was a result of ignorance of relevant facts.
“I was astonished to see that BJP has attacked the Prime Minister and Congress party for what the party calls the fast tracked appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the CBI Director. I regret that this criticism is the result of complete ignorance of relevant facts and possibly has been instigated by a most undesirable rival who had to withdraw his petition before the CAT as a result of this appointment,” said Ram Jethmalani in his letter to BJP President Nitin Gadkari.
Jethmalani demanded that Gadkari should ask the senior leaders of the party not to criticise the union government on the issue without knowing the complete facts of the appointment. The senior lawyer has also said that he would send a set of documents to BJP President to show how the decision of union government has averted a national calamity.
“The rival has powerful friends everywhere who do not know what a disaster it would have been if he could manage to become the CBI Director in place of Ranjit Sinha,” Jethmalani wrote in the letter.
Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar had approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for not short listing his name for consideration for the post of Director CBI but the senior police officer withdrew his application after the appointment of Sinha. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) had short listed three names for the post of the new CBI Director.
“I have to request you to ensure that critics from our party refrain from further comments till they know all the facts. I claim to know the facts from my own knowledge. I will arrange to have to you a huge bunch of documents show how the governments’ action, for a change, has averted a national calamity,” Jethmalani added.