Protesting against the Union Government’s decision to send the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Alok Verma on a forced leave, the Congress activists demonstrated outside the CBI office in Dehradun on Friday.
Addressing the party workers, the State Congress chief, Pritam Singh, alleged that the Centre had issued the late night order to send the CBI chief on a forced leave when he had made up his mind to investigate the Rafale deal. “We are sure that he has collected some documents confirming the corruption in the deal. This is what prompted the panicky Centre to send him on a forced leave to scuttle the investigation,” he said.
He, further, said that what has been happening vindicates the Congress’s stand that a big scam is lurking in the Rafale deal. “We know that a plane costing Rs 516 crore is being purchased at whopping Rs 1635 crore,” Singh said.
Terming the Centre’s order as unconstitutional, the Congress leader said that since CBI chief is appointed by collegiums consisting of the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister and the Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, any action on him can be taken by the collegiums alone.
He said that the same kind of action taken against the CBI director Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana is meant to hoodwink the people of the country.
Hitting at the Narendra Modi Government, the PCC chief said that the way the institutions like CBI, Enforcement Directorate (ED), Chief Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) are being misused to serve personal interests of some leaders is unprecedented.
Claiming that the unsavoury episode has defamed the justice system in India, Singh said that all constitutional bodies in the country are being degraded consistently during the BJP regime. “The way the CBI chief was sent on leave at 2.5 am clearly shows the depth of the dictatorial attitude of the ruling BJP. The incident has put the credibility of an institution like CBI at stake and it would definitely affect the morale of its officers,’’ he said.
A delegation of Congress leaders later met the in-charge of Dehradun office of CBI Akhil Kaushik and handed over to him a memorandum addressed to the President. In the memorandum, the State Congress demanded that the decision taken in haste to send the CBI chief on a leave should be reverted and he should be reinstated in his position at the earliest. The Congress also demanded the PM to seek apology from the country on the matter.
Among the leaders present during the demonstration were the president of the party’s disciplinary committee Pramod Kumar Singh, the state party vice-president Surya Kant Dhasmana, former MLA Rajkumar and the Mahanagar president Lal Chand Sharma.