Coal Scam probe: CBI is Centre's parrot, says AAP

AAP leader Ashutosh said CBI is not an independent agency and works on the direction of the Central govt

With a Supreme Court-appointed panel indicting former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) director Ranjit Sinha for "attempting to influence" investigation into the coal block allocation scam, Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Ashutosh on Wednesday said it clearly states that the CBI is a parrot, which works according to the Centre's directions.

"In the case of Ranjit Sinha, it clearly states that the CBI in its own self is a parrot, and today the Central Government has clarified that the CBI is actually a parrot that works according to its directions," said Ashutosh.

"When the SC panel has clearly accepted that there is a proof in that case, then why the Attorney General (Mukul Rohatgi) is saying that we do not have a proof against him? It means that the Attorney General has no value. It is actually functioning according to the directions of the Central Government and the CBI has been misused, which is constantly happening in cases of the AAP and Ranjit Sinha," he added.

"The CBI, which is an independent agency, is not an independent agency, as it works on the directions or the path shown by the Central Government, and its officers are targeting opposition members," he further said.

The Attorney General told the SC on Tuesday that the panel headed by former CBI special director M.L. Sharma has held that Sinha'a meetings with some of the high- profile accused in the scam prima facie indicated that there was an attempt to influence the investigation.

Rohtagi said he had gone through the report and found that the visitors' diary at Sinha's residence was genuine; however, the correctness of entries in the visitors' diary can only be ascertained through evidence in the court of law.

The SC reprimanded the CBI for tardy pace of investigation into the coal scam cases.