Finance Minister Arun Jailtey on Wednesday dismissed as “rubbish” allegations of Opposition parties, including the Congress, that CBI Director Alok Verma was removed because he wanted to look into the Rafale fighter jet deal.
Jaitley said Opposition’s charges indicate they had access to what was going in the mind of the officer concerned, an apparent reference to Verma. “That itself demolishes the integrity of the person they are trying to support,” he said.
Jaitley said the removal of Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana by the Government is based on the recommendations of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), maintaining that the step was absolutely essential to restore the agency’s institutional integrity and credibility. The CVC made its recommendations on Tuesday evening, the Finance Minister said.
Addressing a Press conference, Jaitley said allegations levelled by the top two CBI officers against each other have created a bizarre and unfortunate situation. “To maintain the institutional integrity of the CBI and in the interest of fairness, purely as an interim measure, both Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana will sit out by going on leave. An SIT, not functioning under either of these officers, will investigate the corruption charges against them. This is in accordance with highest standards of fairness,” the Finance Minister said.
“The Government passed the order as per the recommendations of the CVC. The CVC has all the material that both officers have complained of,” Jaitley said. It is an extraordinary situation, and the accused cannot be allowed to be in charge of investigation against them, the Minister added.