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Demanding an independent CBI divorced from government control, AAP leader Prashant Bhushan today asked the government to maintain transparency in appointing a new CBI Director and rapped it for not announcing the shortlisted names of the candidates to occupy the post.
"The current CBI Director Ranjit Sinha is to retire on December 2. Just three days to go and till today we do not know whose names have been shortlisted for the CBI Director's post," he told reporters here.
"Appointment to such a post must have a minimum level of transparency but we have found successive governments conveniently appoint a weak, an amiable and corrupt official because it suits every government and even the opposition leader," he said.
Even the opposition leader, who belongs to the Congress, wants weak candidate because the party is facing the maximum number of cases relating to corruption, Bhushan said.
Therefore, the time has come to make CBI independent of government control and made accountable to Lok Pal, he said.
Bhushan criticised the Government for not suspending and initiating disciplinary action against Sinha for allegedly "abusing" his authority and protecting some accused in the 2G and coal scams, even months after the issue came to light.
He also flayed the government for not taking any steps to lodge an FIR and start a criminal investigation against Sinha. "The government should have also lodged an FIR against him (Sinha) and started criminal investigation in his acts of abuse of office," he said.
Bhushan said he has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and no action has been taken as of yet. "I had written to the Prime Minister after this came before the public, but nothing happened," he said.
