Facing a political storm over CBI raid on DMK leader M K Stalin two days after the ally pulled out of UPA, Congress today rejected the charge that the investigating agency functions as per government's diktat.
"The timing (of the CBI raid) is unfortunate. We have nothing to do with it. This makes it all the clear that CBI is an autonmous body. Why would we like this to happen when we are call others our allies? All this action proves that the constant refrain that CBI functions as per the government's diktat wrong," party spokesperson Sandip Dikshit told reporters.
He also rejected contentions that the government's disapproving of the raid amounted to its interference in the working of an independent investigation body.
"Government is not stopping CBI from taking action. Government has only said it is unfortunate and that the action at this time can be misunderstood...Nobody is blocking CBI's independent functioning...They will pursue the investigations according to the leads they have.
"But everybody has an opinion on what CBI does. BJP at times attributes even motives to CBI's functioning," he said.
To a specific question that Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that he disapproved of the CBI action, Dikshit declined to accept it saying that the minister did not say this and maintained only that the timing was unfortunate.
Pressed further, the Congress spokesperson said "he disapproved because of the timing. He did not disapprove of because of the content or merit".
CBI today raided the home of Stalin, triggering a political controversy with an upset Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying its timing was "unfortunate".
An angry DMK said the CBI raid was an act of "political vendetta".
Opposition parties, including BJP, slammed Congress over the incident.
