The government has rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that it misused the Central Bureau of Investigation in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case in which Gujarat Minister Amit Shah has been summoned by the probe agency.
"These charges have been levelled on a number of occasions. In these politically sensitive cases, the CBI has gone into investigation following court orders and it is being supervised by the Central Vigilance Commission," Minister of State for Personnel Prithviraj Chavan told the media on Friday.
In such a situation, how can anyone say that it was working on the directions of the central government, Chavan, under whose ministry the CBI functions, said on the BJP's allegation that the agency has become the "Congress Bureau of Investigation".
"Everyone in the country wants that criminals should be apprehended and punished. Let the CBI do its job. Nobody should impute motives. We should welcome free and fair investigation," he said.
At a press conference called on the eve of Monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal described as "unfortunate" the rejection of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's invitation to top BJP leaders for lunch.
"I wish they had responded to the prime minister's invitation. In a democracy, they could have utilised the opportunity to bring the matter to the notice of the prime minister," he said.
Earlier, BJP leader Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj went hammer and tongs against the government on the Amit Shah issue, charging the government with misusing the CBI to settle political scores.
"The facts are concocted and false. The agency is behaving like an extended arm of the ruling party. The timing has been chosen for political convenience of the Congress party," Jaitley said.
© 2025