A day after Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah resigned after he was chargesheeted along with 14 others by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, charges and counter-charges continued to be traded over the issue on Saturday.
Even as Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi continued to maintain that Mr. Shah was “innocent and a law-abiding citizen,” the Centre berated the BJP for its “angry” reaction to the CBI's pursuit of Mr. Shah.
“Jaitley didn't raise it”
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram pointed out that the CBI had filed the case against Mr. Shah as per the direction of the Supreme Court and that senior BJP leader and lawyer Arun Jaitley should have taken note of it.
“Why this belated and simulated anger? They should have said this in January when the Supreme Court handed over the matter to the CBI,” the Minister told journalists here on Saturday when asked about the BJP's allegations that the CBI was being misused to target opponents.
“This was a Supreme Court directive and at least Arun Jaitley should have read it. He is a lawyer. He should have raised it and they should have raised it in January, why raise it now?” the Home Minister asked.
Reacting to Mr. Chidambaram's remarks, senior BJP leader and chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “We understand that Mr. Chidambaram is under attack from his party and the government. He has decided to take out his pain on us.”
“Chidambaram wrong”
Mr. Prasad said the Home Minister was wrong in saying that the BJP raised the issue of misuse of CBI only now. “We have been raising this issue for years in and outside Parliament.” He said that Mr. Shah has resigned as Gujarat Minister and he “is entitled to all legal redress like any citizen.”
Mr. Prasad said the BJP would ensure that he got the best legal advice.
Politics behind it: Modi
Maintaining that his Minister was “innocent and a law-abiding citizen,” Mr. Modi told journalists that Mr. Shah had gone to the court and would follow the court directive. Mr. Modi was in the capital to participate in the meeting of the National Development Council.
When it was pointed out that it was a Supreme Court-monitored investigation, Mr. Modi said: “There are so many matters pending with the CBI. Why has Gujarat been prioritised? There is politics behind it.”
“There have been more than 700 cases of encounter in the country. Out of these, several cases are pending before the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court. This is a case of pick-and-choose against Gujarat. The CBI is being used as a political weapon to settle political scores,” he alleged.
“Only an hour for Shah”
Mr. Modi said while the State government officials were given eight to 10 days to appear before the CBI, Mr. Shah was given only an hour.
On why there was a delay in Mr. Shah's resignation, he said the Minister had not received the copy of the chargesheet as yet.
