The BJP on Tuesday said the central government had nothing to do with the CBI searches at Delhi secretariat and elsewhere and that the agency had procured a court warrant before proceeding in the case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also demanded an apology from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided 14 places (in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh), of which two happen to be the house and office of Rajendra Kumar (secretary to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal)," senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad told media persons here.
The central government had no role in the CBI raids, he said and added that the agency got the case a few months ago and it took action after verifying the matter.
"Allegations against (secretary of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal) Rajendra Kumar are old. It was even before Arvind Kejriwal became chief minister (that allegations were levelled against him)," Prasad said.
Prasad, who is also a union minister, demanded an apology from Kejriwal for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "coward and a psychopath".
"Arvind Kejriwal must apologise for his comments against the prime minister," he said.
Prasad said Rajendra Kumar has been on various influential posts and the cases against him must be investigated.
The minister also clarified that the CBI did not conduct any searches at the chief minister's office.
"The CBI did not even touch chief minister's office," he said.
On why the chief minister was not taken into confidence before the CBI conducted searches into the secretariat building, Prasad asked which law book says that the chief minister must be informed before his secretary is searched.
"It's a pure case of corruption and must be allowed to be probed," he added.
