Kejriwal seeks 'explanation' from PMO over CBI raid

Hours after a Delhi court ordered the CBI to return the documents it seized from Delhi Secretariat in December, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday sought an "explanation" from the Prime Minister's Office over the CBI's raid.

"After today's CBI court order directing release of (documents) seized from CMO (chief minister's office), PMO owes an explanation to the nation since the CBI reports to PM (Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he tweeted.

A court on Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to release documents seized from the office of the principal secretary to Kejriwal, Rajendra Kumar, and wondered how a regular case was registered against the official on the basis of oral information.

Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia called the CBI raid of December 16 "politically motivated" and sought an apology from the prime minister for it, saying it was directed at Kejriwal's office.

"Modi should now appologise" and admit the raid was wrong, Sisodia said.

He said the court had categorically observed that it was improper to seize files not related to Rajendra Kumar and also the "in" and "out" register of the chief minister's office.

Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the court order exposed Modi government's blatant misuse of the CBI as Kejriwal was the target of the raid, not his principal secretary.

AAP Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey said the raid was a ploy to unsettle the AAP government.

"Rattled by humiliating loss in Bihar elections, the Narendra Modi government unleashed the CBI to terrorize the AAP government in Delhi," he said.