Apex court will examine if allegations politically motivated: BJP on CBI row

Hyderabad: The BJP said on Tuesday the Supreme Court is the right authority to examine whether the sensational charges brought by CBI DIG Manish Kumar Sinha against a Union minister and top officials has any substantive basis or is "politically motivated".

The feud within the CBI turned murkier on Monday with Sinha dragging the names of NSA Ajit Doval, Union minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary and CVC K V Chowdhury over alleged attempts to interfere in the probe against the agency's Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who has also been divested of his duties and sent on leave by the government along with Director Alok Kumar Verma.

BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimha Rao said the matter is "sub judice", but took objection to "somebody serving in an organisation twisting the name of that organisation itself". When asked by reporters about the issue, he said, "The matter is sub judice. The Supreme Court is hearing the matter on a regular basis. The court apparently itself said there is no urgency to hear this particular complaint. Therefore, it is not proper for me to make a political comment."

Sinha, who was probing the FIR against Asthana, the CBI's number two, and important cases like the PNB scam involving Nirav Modi, made a litany of sensational allegations in his petition before the Supreme Court that sought urgent hearing for quashing his transfer to Nagpur. "The court itself did not see any merit or emergency in the allegations being made. Therefore, I think the right authority to examine this complaint is the court itself. Whether this statement is politically motivated or has any substantive basis is something that the court will examine," he said.

"But, prima facie, I have a strong objection to

somebody serving in an organisation twisting the name of that organisation itself...," Rao said.