Jaitley's letter to PM is 'political interference' in CBI probe: Cong

Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil writes to PM rebutting Jaitley's claims on misuse of CBI to target Modi

Terming senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley's letter to Prime Minister alleging misuse of CBI by Central government to target his party's prime ministerial candidate Nanrendra Modi as 'political interference', the Gujarat Congress on Friday hit out at the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former leader of opposition in Gujarat assembly Shaktisinh Gohil lashed out at Jaitley claiming that sole intention of Jaitley's letter was for "subverting the process of law".

" I do not wish to rebut the case-wise contents of Shri Jaitley’s letter because he has been very economic with the truth. In fact, he has made completely misconceived, misleading, false and absurd allegations in his letter with the sole intention of subverting the process of law. I fail to give him the benefit of doubt also because he is a renowned lawyer well conversant with criminal and constitutional law. Hence, his letter tantamount to political interference in ongoing investigations," Gohil stated in his letter.

He further pointed out that Jaitley's argument about CBI being a tool in the hands of Central government and was being used to malign Modi, was far from the truth. "Jaitely, however, forgets that it was not the Central Government which ordered the CBI investigation in these (fake encounter) cases. In fact, it was the Supreme Court and Gujarat High Court which had ordered CBI investigation in these cases," he added.

Gohil claimed that Jaitley’s letter was preemptive in nature for building pressure on the CBI not to act even if material compelling action against Modi comes up in the investigations. "Shri Jaitley’s laborious letter, which reads like a statement of defence in a criminal trial, is premature because Shri Narendra Modi has still not been indicted by the CBI in any case," he stated in the letter to PM.

The former leader of the opposition also criticised the central agency  of not being conscientious and prompt in its work.

Gohil also demanded further investigation into the killing of former Gujarat home minsiter Haren Pandya which was probed by the CBI.