Congress slams BJP, says credibility crisis in CBI

Congress leader Sachin Pilot accused the government of interference in the CBI and asked why it was silent on the issue.
CBI special director Rakesh Asthana (Left) and CBI chief Alok Verma (Right).
CBI special director Rakesh Asthana (Left) and CBI chief Alok Verma (Right).

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday slammed the government, saying that there was a serious credibility crisis in the CBI, with its top officers accusing each other of massive corruption, and blamed “vested interests” within the government for bringing the agency to “such a pass”.Congress leader Sachin Pilot accused the government of interference in the CBI and asked why it was silent on the issue.

“How do we trust the CBI to look at corruption issues when their top people are themselves involved and allegations are flying thick and fast? The fact that it has reached this point tells you how long and how deep the rot may be within this government,” Pilot said.

Earlier in the day, Congress president Rahul Gandhi reacted to the ongoing controversy over the second-in-command in the Central Bureau of Investigation, special director Rakesh Asthana, and called the investigating agency ‘an institution in terminal decline that’s at war with itself.’Pilot said that the CBI’s top officers were accusing each other of massive corruption. “So there are serious credibility issues and I think there are vested interests within the government and within CBI that have brought this agency to such a pass,” Pilot said.

Pilot also accused the Modi government of conniving with fraudsters who had escaped the country and cited “conflict of interest” to say that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley should be sacked after his daughter and son-in-law, both lawyers, allegedly received a retainership of `24 lakh from fugitive Mehul Choksi. 
In the 44 months till January 2018, the Modi government witnessed an unprecedented 19,000 ‘bank fraud cases’ involving `90,000 crore, Congress leader Sachin Pilot said at a press conference along with party colleagues Rajiv Satav and Sushmita Dev.

He also alleged that 23 fraudsters had escaped India under the government’s watch after duping the country of over `53,000 crore.Pilot said a sinking economy, banking frauds and flying fraudsters formed part of BJP’s-Jaitley’s ‘New India’ and demanded that the minister should resign on moral grounds.

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