Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court’s “intervention” in the ongoing tussle which has engulfed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), stating that he hoped the institutional integrity of the country’s premier investigating agency will be upheld.
His reaction came in the wake of the apex court asking the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to complete within two weeks its inquiry into allegations against CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma, even as it barred interim director M. Nageswara Rao from taking any major policy decisions till such time.
“Welcome intervention by the hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the CBI matter. In the interests of the nation, ho pe that institutional integrity of CBI will be upheld & powers that be will understand that their illegal acts will not go un-challanged [sic],” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged during a press conference that the Supreme Court’s decision had effectively halted the Modi government’s “illegal attempts to make a mockery of the rules, the law and the Constitution”.
“The apex court, by making the CVC inquiry time bound and putting it under the supervision of a retired judge of the Supreme Court, has exposed the Modi government’s attempts to use the so-called CVC probe against the CBI Director [Mr. Verma] as an excuse to keep him out of office for his remaining tenure,” Mr. Singh said in a statement.
Taking on Mr. Rao, he questioned the rationale behind the “midnight coup” in the CBI.
“The Modi government’s attempt to impose a junior officer with a dubious track record, himself facing corruption allegations, as the interim director has been curtailed...What prompted their action of a midnight coup in CBI? Which files was the Modi government afraid of? The answer to all the question above is clear: the Modi government is desperately trying to suppress the mega Rafale scam,” he said.