People should maintain their faith in CBI, says BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi
Her remarks came after the agency named its Special Director Rakesh Asthana and arrested another official in a bribery case.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said people should maintain faith in an institution like the Central Bureau of Investigation as the country’s premier probe agency remains locked in a battle between its top two officials, PTI reported.
The CBI on Monday named Special Director Rakesh Asthana, its second-in-command, in a bribery case. He has been accused of accepting a Rs 2-crore bribe to scuttle an investigation into businessman Moin Qureshi, who is an accused in multiple corruption cases. The CBI also arrested its Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar in connection with the case.
Media reports said that Asthana, on the other hand, has accused the agency’s Director Alok Verma and Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma of trying to falsely implicate him in the Sterling Biotech loan default case. Asthana had reportedly written to Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha in August, mentioning more than a dozen accusations against Verma and other top CBI officials.
“There are two reports, one is against the director and another against the special director,” said BJP Spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi in New Delhi on Monday. “We would like people’s faith in the institution of the CBI to continue.”
Lekhi said the government will put forth its views and speak out on such a serious matter at a later date. She added that the government is concerned about the CBI’s credibility and would take action, reported The Times of India.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday alleged that the CBI was being used as a “weapon of political vendetta” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also described the CBI as “an institution in terminal decline that is at war with itself”.
Meanwhile, Verma reportedly moved to suspend Asthana after meeting Modi on Sunday, NDTV reported on Tuesday. In a letter, Verma has described Asthana as “a source of demoralisation, a subject of probes”, unidentified officials were quoted as saying.