New Delhi, Jan 11 (UNI) Charging that the Narendra Modi government misused the Central Vigilance Commission’s office to subvert the Rafale enquiry and removing Alok Verma from the post of CBI Director, Congress party on Friday said the Selection Committee must at least have heard him before removal.
Addressing mediapersons here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the Selection Committee has removed Mr Verma based on allegations by Mr Asthana, whose plea to quash the FIR against him was dismissed by High Court and ordered a time-bound investigation against him.
“Is it not strange that Rakesh Asthana, who himself is under investigation in an FIR, was the basis of Mr Verma's removal?”, asked Mr Singvi.
Meanwhile the Congress party welcomed the Delhi High Court decision to continue investigating bribery charges against Mr Asthana and said “we can only imagine the skeletons that will be revealed after an independent investigation by the CBI on Modiji’s blue-eyed boy”.
Taking on the government, Mr Singhvi said that the full basis for the removal of the CBI director was the report of the CVC.
“But the CVC neither appoints nor can remove the CBI chief. The office of the CVC has been misused by the government”, he said.
He further pointed out that six out of the ten allegations made by CVC are considered unsubstantiated by the CVC itself and the rest four are considered worthy of future investigation.
“On one of the charges, the CVC report says that there is ‘no evidence of payment of bribe’, and that ‘further investigation required for verifying circumstantial evidence’, Singhvi said.
The Congress spokesperson further alleged that the government has done all this to save itself from Rafale or other charges.
UNI KNA ADG 1938