The Congress party on Wednesday tore into Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, after it sent Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director Alok Verma on leave, owing to his alleged rift with CBI special director Rakesh Asthana.
Speaking to ANI, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, "Prime Minister Modi has buried the last nail in the independence of CBI. The systematic dismantling and disintegration of CBI is now complete. Once treated as the most premier investigating agency of the country, the Prime Minister's systematic attack on the credibility and capability of the CBI has now ensured that its credibility is dead and buried."
Venting anger over the government for its move, Surjewala added, "What prime minister could not do directly by removing the CBI director and dozens of his colleagues, he has done scrupulously by taking shelter behind the Central Vigilance Commission."
The Congress leader further trained guns at the Prime Minister and questioned if the decision was taken out of fear that the CBI director will expose the corruption in the Rafale and other matters of the government.
"Has the CBI director been removed because he was about to order a probe in the Rafale corruption? Was he removed because CBI was after Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi whom the entire BJP apparatus wanted to protect? Was it because CBI was tightening the noose around Vijay Mallya case. He (Narendra Modi) has taken this decision fearing that the CBI would have spilled the beans for the Bharatiya Janata Party," he said.
The Central Government's decision came a day after Asthana moved the Delhi High Court seeking the quashing of First Information Report (FIR) filed against him by the premier investigating agency of India. The court later ordered that no action would be taken against Asthana until next hearing, which is scheduled for October 29.
The CBI had filed an FIR against Asthana for allegedly accepting a bribe from a businessman, who was related to Moin Akhtar Qureshi case. Asthana was heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing Qureshi's case.