Vijayawada: Expressing concern over the ongoing turmoil in the CBI, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said Alok Verma, the director of the premier investigating agency, was removed in a midnight coup as the Centre feared a probe by him into Rafale scam.
Mr Naidu said that Mr Verma’s removal proves that the NDA government is involved in the Rafale scam.
He questioned under what powers Mr Verma was removed and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi owes an explanation to the nation on the CBI fiasco. “Modi is directly responsible for the unfortunate developments in the CBI,” Mr Naidu said.
“The way the CBI director was removed at midnight shows that the Union government will not allow any agency that questions it to survive. This is clearly against the spirit of the various rulings of the Supreme Court and the justice system in the country. Supreme Court had given clear guidelines on the independent status of CBI in the Vineeth Narayan Vs Union of India case. As per those guidelines a CBI director is appointed by a committee having the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and the Chief Justice of India as members,” he said.
Mr Naidu added that Central government has since some time been weakening all the institutions and has been scuttling dissent. He said that BJP leaders, to cover their mistakes, have been committing more mistakes.
The CM tweeted: “An unfortunate scenario in the country where the integrity & sanctity of a premier agency like the CBI is in question. Institutions meant to protect citizens have been made powerless. How will people trust their government if such incidents keep coming forth one after the other?”
