Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday described the country’s premier investigative agency, CBI, as an institution that was “at war with itself”, and blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its “decline”.
Mr. Gandhi said that the agency has become a “weapon of political vendetta” under Mr. Modi’s watch and is in a state of “terminal decline.”
“The PM’s blue-eyed boy, Gujarat-cadre officer of Godra SIT fame, infiltrated as No. 2 into the CBI, has now been caught taking bribes. Under this PM, the CBI is a weapon of political vendetta. An institution in terminal decline that’s at war with itself,” said Mr. Gandhi on Twitter.
On Sunday, The Hindu had reported that the CBI had named its second-in-command, Rakesh Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, in a bribery case of over ₹3 crore.
Bribery case
Apart from two private individuals, the agency had named Mr. Asthana and Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar in a bribery case that relates to an ongoing probe against meat exporter Moin Qureshi.
The move is also seen as an ugly turf war between the agency’s top man, CBI Director Alok Verma, and Mr. Asthana. Before being named in the FIR, Mr. Asthana had written to the Central Vigilance Commission accusing the CBI Director of interfering in a corruption case involving family members of Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad. The agency, in an official press release, countered these claims, and said that Mr. Asthana himself was the subject of several investigations.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot said that the CBI’s “internal war is alarming and vested interests are at play.” “How do we trust the CBI to look into corruption issues when their top people are themselves involved and allegations are flying thick and fast,” Mr. Pilot said at a press conference.
“We think there are vested interests within the government and the CBI, which has brought the agency to such a passe. Today, the credibility and integrity of the CBI is a huge question mark,” he said.
