Centre vs CBI Highlights: Rahul Gandhi courts arrest, BJP says Congress left with no issues

Castigating the Narendra Modi-led government over the ongoing feud in the Central Bureau of Investigation, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Friday stated that the environment in the country’s institutions like CBI is being vitiated. His remarks came hours after Congress President Rahul Gandhi was detained for holding protests against the BJP government over the removal of Alok Verma as CBI Director.

Read More Here | Manmohan Singh flays Modi govt, says environment of institutions like CBI being ‘vitiated’

Apr, 2016: Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana appointed Additional Director of CBI.

Dec 3: Asthana made interim CBI director after the retirement of then chief Anil Sinha.

Jan 19, 2017: Alok Kumar Verma appointed CBI chief for a tenure of two years.

Oct 22, 2017: CBI appoints Asthana as Special Director.

Nov 2: Advocate Prashant Bhushan moves SC on behalf of NGO, Common Cause, challenging Asthana's appointment.

Nov 28: SC dismisses the petition.

July 12, 2018: While Verma was abroad, CVC calls a meeting to discuss promotions, seeks to know who will attend it. CBI responds Asthana has no mandate to represent Verma.

Aug, 24: Asthana complaints to Cabinet Secretary alleging misconduct by Verma. Matter referred to CVC.

Sep 21: CBI tells CVC that Asthana was facing probe in six cases of corruption.

Oct 15: CBI lodges FIR with bribery allegations against Asthana, Deputy Superintendent of Police Devender Kumar, Dubai-based investment banker Manoj Prasad and his brother Somesh Prasad.

Oct 16: CBI arrests middleman Manoj Prasad.

Oct 20: CBI raids Kumar's residence and office at its headquarters, claims to have seized his mobile phones and iPads.

Oct 22: CBI arrests Kumar alleging he "fabricated the statement" of businessman Sathish Sana, facing probe in a case involving meat exporter Moin Qureshi and had paid bribes to get relief.

Oct 23: Kumar moves HC seeking quashing of FIR against him. Hours later, Asthana too moves high court seeking quashing of FIR against him and direction to CBI not to take coercive steps against him. -- Delhi HC orders status quo regarding Asthana, seeking response of CBI, Verma on both pleas. Delhi trial court sends Kumar to 7-day CBI custody. Late night, DoPT divests Verma of all his statutory obligations, appoints M Nageswara Rao as interim CBI chief.

Oct 24: Verma moves Supreme Court against govt order. Court fixes plea for hearing on Oct 26.

Oct 25: NGO Common Cause files PIL in SC seeking SIT probe into allegations of corruption against CBI officials including Asthana. SC says it would consider according urgent hearing. Delhi court extends by five days CBI custody of Manoj Prasad. Four Intelligence Bureau men held outside Verma's official residence here. MHA says they were on routine duty and not spying.

Oct 26: SC directs CVC to complete inquiry into the complaint against Verma in two weeks, seeks response of CVC and Centre on Verma's plea challenging government order. Directs Rao not to take major or policy decisions, to file in sealed cover his decisions taken till now. SC notice to Centre, CBI, CVC, Asthana, Verma and Rao on NGO's plea, lists the matter for Nov 12. (PTI)

Congress leader took out a march to the CBI office Friday protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alleged attempt to 'politicise' the central investigating agency Senior party leaders marched to the local CBI office at Muttathara as part of a nation-wide agitation called by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) demanding reinstatement o CBI Director Alok Verma, who has been divested of his power and sent on leave Leader of Opposition in the assembly Rames Chennithala, who inaugurated the march, made a scathing attack on the Prime Minister and alleged that Modi was the 'mos corrupt politician' the country had ever seen 'The CBI, the country's highest investigating agency has lost its glory and pride,' he said. (PTI)

The Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and CPI today staged a protest outside CBI office in Hyderabad. AICC incharge for Telangana RC Khuntia, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, TDP Telangana unit president L Ramana and CPI state secretary Chada Venkat Reddy led the protest, PTI reported. 'With the process that is happening to suppress Rafale inquiry..., the confidence in government has gone,' Khuntia said. While demanding Verma's reinstation, Ramana alleged that Constitutional institutions have become 'weak' both at the Centre and in Telangana under BJP and TRS respectively.

Over 40 Congress members and leaders have been detained including eight MLAs and former state unit chief, protesting against Centre's decision to remove Verma in front of CBI office in Ahmedabad today.

Prior to detention, Congress activsts marched from a church to the CBI office, a kilometer stretch. We detained 47 Congress workers and leaders, including (party's former state unit chief) Bharatsinh Solanki and eight MLAs. They were released after some time,' Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police, Mayur Chavda, said. The legislators, who took part in the protest and were taken into custody by the police included Shailesh Parmar, C J Chavda, Himmatsinh Patel and Imran Khedawala, among others. Congress raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Several Congress ministers including Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Vijay Inder Singla and party members staged a protest outside CBI office in Chandigarh gainst the Centre's decision.

Ahead of the protest, police had barricaded the roads leading to the CBI office in Sector 30 and when protesters attempted to cross the barricades, water cannon were used by the police to disperse them.

The protest was led by Punjab Congress in-charge Asha Kumari, Punjab and Haryana Congress chiefs Sunil Kumar Jakhar and Ashok Tanwar. The leaders demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging the "illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate" removal of Verma had shamed India and its premier investigative agency.

(Express Photos)

Congress activists protest against Centre's decision to divest CBI Director Alok Verma outside CBI office in Bengaluru. Karnataka Congress MLAs and corporators did not take part in the protest and legislators were directed to participate in the agitation, reported PTI.

As senior party functionaries were not present during the protest, Congress spokesperson Subhash Agarwal said the agitation was only symbolic and the presence of MLAs and corporators did not matter. "We only wanted to convey a message to the Centre, which we successfully did. The agitation started at about 11.30 am and went on for about one-and-half hours," he said, as reported BY PTI.

National general secretary and Karnataka in-charge K C Venugopal was a familiar face seen in the agitation.

As Rahul Gandhi protests against Centre's decision to remove CBI Director Alok Verma, hundereds of Congress activists and leaders staged a demonstration outside CBI office in Odisha today, reported PTI.

The demonstration is led by Odisha Congress Committee President Niranjan Patnaik who raised slogans and alleged that Verma was sent on leave to stall investigation into charges of corruption in Rafale deal. Sporting black T-shirts, activists attempted to enter the CBI office in Odisha, however, were stopped by the security personnel at the gate. Patnaik further alleged that people of Odisha, particularly the victims of a multi-crore chitfund fund, have been cheated by Special Director CBI Rakesh Asthana, who was in-charge of the probe into the case.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has been released from Lodhi Colony police station after being detained for protesting in front of the CBI headquarters. 

(Express Photos by Abhinav Saha)

Rahul Gandhi in Lodhi Colony police station after being detained for protesting in front of CBI headquarters, Delhi. 

(Express Photos)

Given that Rahul Gandhi is an SPG protectee, there is high security at Lodhi Colony police station where Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has arrived to court arrest. Party workers have gathered at the police station in support of the Congress leaders. 

Rahul Gandhi is on his way to Lodhi police station in New Delhi to court arrest.

Reacting to the court order, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, "The SC has today further strengthened the fairness criteria. They have fixed a time limit and have ordered to ensure that highest standards are maintained even in the highest enquiries. It is trying to ensure that the CVC probe is absolutely fair. The truth coming out is in the larger interest of India. That was the object behind the CVC's direction, the objective behind the government's move based on the CVC's suggestion. The SC order only adds to that fairness, precisely why the government welcomes the order."

Speaking to reporters during the protest, Rahul Gandhi said, "Narendra Modi has destroyed each and every institution in the country. Be it the CBI or the Election Commission. He is attacking each and every institution. And there's only one reason behind it - Chowkidar chor hai. He has put Rs 30,000 crore in Anil Ambani's pocket. Congress will not let Chowkidar indulge in a theft. The opposition will not let Chowkidar do so."

Congress workers in Mumbai protest against the Centre's decision to send CBI Director Alok Verma on leave. (Express photo/Amit Chakravarty)

Reacting to the protests across the country, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, "The Congress doesn't have any people's issues to raise which is why they are taking up these non-issues. We should wait for the investigation report."

In a tweet addressed to PM Modi, Surjewala said, "Modiji, history won’t forget how you severely undermined the reputation of two premier institutions, CBI and CVC. In an “exception”, SC has directed that enquiry by the CVC will be monitored by a Retd SC judge. You are the sole reason for this trust deficit!"

Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal also welcome the SC order in the case today. "Welcome intervention by the hon’ble Supreme Court of India in the CBI matter. In the interests of the nation, hope that institutional integrity of CBI will be upheld & powers that be will understand that their illegal acts will not go unchallenged," he tweeted.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has arrived to take part in the protest against the government's decision in the national capital.

Ahmed Patel, Veerappa Moily, Motilal Vohra, Kumari Selja, Ambika Soni, PC Chacko, D Raja, Sharad Yadav are among the Congress leaders who are marching to the CBI headquarters. Rahul Gandhi is yet to arrive for the protest.

Welcoming the Supreme Court's order, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala posted on Twitter, "Truth prevails in Supreme Court. Modi Govt’s sinister attempt to capture CBI through lackeys falls flat. A slap in face of tyrants who wanted to pin the last nail in CBI’s independence. CVC can’t act as Modi Govt’s pawn but would be supervised by a SC judge to act fairly."

Responding to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's request for more time to complete the probe against Alok Verma in view of Diwali, CJI Gogoi, in a lighter vein, said, "Diwali is only for one day and four hours. There’s no Diwali for the CBI, CVC and Attorney."

All decisions taken by Nageshwar Rao from the date of his appointment as interim director till this hour will be submitted to the court in a sealed cover, the bench said.

All decisions taken by Nageshwar Rao from the date of his appointment as interim director till this hour will be submitted to the court in a sealed cover, the bench said.

The CVC probe will be monitored by retired SC judge A K Patnaik. Interim CBI Director N Nageshwar Rao will not take any decision in any major or policy matter but will only look after the functioning of the agency, the court ruled.

The bench, however, refused to hear Special Director Rakesh Asthana's plea on  grounds that he should have submitted his petition earlier.

During the hearing, CJI Gogi said that an enquiry by the CVC should be completed in ten days under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. M Nageshwar Rao will not take any policy decisions, he said.

While hearing Alok Verma's plea against the Centre's order, CJI Justice Ranjan Gogoi said, "We will examine it. The only thing we have to see is what kind of an interim order has to be passed."

The hearing in the case has begun in the Supreme Court. According to ANI, Fali Nariman, who is representing Alok Verma, said, "The present case is concerned with whether his tenure of two years could be breached at any time." He added that the "order passed by the CVC and Union Government was without any authority under the law."

All the three lawyers -- representing Alok Verma, Rakesh Asthana and CVC -- have arrived at the court for the hearing in the case.

Special Director Rakesh Asthana, booked by the agency in an alleged case of bribery, was stripped of all responsibilities at the agency on Tuesday. “The Special Director Shri Rakesh Asthana is divested of all supervisory charges with immediate effect,” said the order which was issued by the agency. As Special Director and No. 2 at the CBI, Asthana was heading a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was responsible for some high-profile and sensitive cases. These include the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter case, the Vijay Mallya case, coal-scam related cases, Robert Vadra case, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda’s land allocation case and the Dayanidhi Maran case. Read full story here. 

Alok Verma had joined the IPS in 1979 at age 22 and was allotted to the AGMUT (Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram, UTs) cadre. He was the youngest officer in his batch. Prior to assuming the office of CBI Director, Verma had been Commissioner of Police, Delhi; Director General of Prisons, Delhi; Director General of Police, Mizoram; DGP, Puducherry and IGP, Andaman & Nicobar Islands. He was also the only one to hold the top post at CBI without any prior experience in the agency. He was appointed as CBI Director for two years and his tenure ends in December.

The feud between Alok Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana traces its origins to events of mid-2017, when the government refused to appoint certain IPS officers into the CBI despite recommendations from the CBI Director. In October 2017, the CBI Director handed over a confidential note to the CVC during a panel meeting over the promotion of Asthana to the post of Special Director. The note alleged corruption on Asthana’s part with regard to the Sterling Biotech case of August that year. It alleged that according to a diary found on the premises of the company, Asthana was paid Rs 3.88 crore by the company (which in October came under probe for loan defaults of over Rs 5,000 crore). The CVC panel unanimously cleared Asthana’s promotion, disregarding Verma’s submissions. It said the allegations were not verifiable. 

In June this year, the Director targeted Asthana again, now through a letter to the CVC that said that Asthana could not represent him in his absence in a CVC meeting over CBI appointments. The Director said Asthana was being probed for alleged corruption. Asthana hit back by writing to the Cabinet Secretary in August that Verma was interfering in his probes and had tried to stall a raid on Lalu Prasad in the IRCTC case. He also alleged corruption on Verma’s part. Less than two months later, Verma got an FIR registered against Asthana as an accused in a case of corruption. Read: How to read the war in CBI. 

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose party TMC will join the protest outside the CBI headquarters today, had earlier alleged that the CBI had become the BJP’s policing agency. “CBI has now become so-called BBI (BJP Bureau of Investigation) – very unfortunate!” Banerjee had tweeted.

Speaking to ANI ahead of their protests at 11 am, Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill said, "Rafale ke khel se ghabraayi Modi-Shah ki jodi isliye raaton-raat CBI todi. Satyamav Jayate! Loktantra Moditantra ko harayega (The government which has been shaken by the Rafale scam decided to break the CBI overnight. Democracy will defeat Modi rule)."

Speaking to reporters ahead of the hearing, senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi said, "It is just one more case. What is big about it? It is not as important as you think it is."

Besides Verma, the apex court will also hear a plea filed by NGO Common Cause. Advocate Prashant Bhushan had mentioned the plea before the bench and requested that it be tagged along with the petition filed by Alok Verma which has been fixed for hearing today. In its plea, the NGO has sought quashing of the CVC order of October 23, which it said “illegally divested” Verma of his work for “malafide reasons”. It also requested the court to quash the order issued by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet giving Rao interim charge. Read full story here.

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for his attack on PM Modi, the BJP accused the Congress chief of manufacturing lies on the issue every day. The BJP said that Rahul is hallucinating because his party has lost relevance. “Congress has lost all hopes to become relevant and has lost its patience too. Rafale comes even in their dreams… Rahul Gandhi is manufacturing lies every day on the Rafale jet deal,” Union Minister for HRD Prakash Javadekar had said yesterday. Read full story here. 

Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi today urged the people to join the Congress protests across the country. "Join us today at 11 AM as we march from Dayal Singh College on Lodhi Road to the CBI HQ, to protest the PM’s disgraceful & unconstitutional attempt to block an investigation into the Rafale scam by removing the CBI Chief. Similar protests are being held today, across India," he tweeted.

In his plea, Verma said the decision to divest him of his powers were "patently illegal". The CBI director, he said, has a fixed tenure of two years and is appointed by a high-powered committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India, and that the “previous consent” of the committee is needed for his “transfer”. “The exercise of power by the impugned orders has been to bypass the mandate of the Committee,” he said.

Verma's petition today will be heard by a three-judge bench, namely Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph. Nariman, the country's top constitutional expert, will argue for Verma, who in his petition had pointed out that "that there are bound to be occasions when certain investigations into high functionaries do not take the direction that may be desirable to the government”.

Later on Thursday, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi also stepped up the attack on the government, saying the move was a “panic reaction” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who knew that he would be “finished” if the CBI began an inquiry into the Rafale fighter jet deal. Rahul added that the decision to remove Verma and appoint M Nageshwar Rao as CBI Interim Director was “illegal” and “criminal”. Without naming Rao, Gandhi, who was addressing the media, said, “The charge has been given to an individual who has cases against him…so that the Prime Minister can control him. The PM has made a corrupt officer in charge (of CBI) so that an inquiry into Rafale does not take place.” Read full story here. 

On Thursday, Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha and one of the three members of the committee that appoints the CBI chief, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and termed the government move as “illegal” and “mala fide” as “no one — neither you nor the CVC — enjoys the requisite authority to interfere with the Terms of Service vested in the Director”. The Prime Minister heads the committee which also includes the Chief Justice of India. In his letter, Kharge, as leader of the single largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha, wrote: “The actions taken in early hours of the morning of October 24, 2018, in transferring the Director and his entire team, amount to a grave violation of the law, the Supreme Court’s clear directions on the subject and the Constitution of India.” Read full story here.

Both Verma and Asthana -- CBI’s warring No 1 and No 2 -- were sent on leave and their offices were sealed on Tuesday after the duo accused each other of corruption. On Thursday, the investigative agency, however, clarified that Verma and Asthana will remain as Director and Special Director respectively.