CPM says developments in CBI row have caused ‘serious damage', calls for resistance to Centre’s 'manipulation'

New Delhi: The CPM on Tuesday said the current developments in the country’s premier investigative agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have seriously damaged the Indian republic and must be resisted. “The polit bureau considers these developments as seriously damaging the Indian Republic and must be resisted tooth and nail,” the Left party said in a statement. [caption id=“attachment_4498957” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational Image. AFP[/caption] It said the recent happenings in the CBI show the degree of damage that is being caused by the present government at the Centre to Constitutional authorities and institutions of parliamentary democracy in India. “The undermining of the parliament itself, interference in the judiciary, manipulation of institutions like the CBI are not due to poor ‘governance’ but due to malafide intentions to undermine the secular democratic foundations of the Indian Constitution,” the CPM statement said. The national secretariat of the Communist Party of India (CPI) also expressed concern about accusations and counter-accusations made by top officers of the CBI — its chief Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana. In a statement, the CPI has earlier said the present developments within the agency have damaged the credibility of the institution. It said Alok Verma is from the Union cadre and Asthana is from the Gujarat cadre and were picked up by the Prime Minister office (PMO) to serve in the premier investigative agency. “The credibility of prime minister’s office itself is at stake,” the CPI statement said. The CPI further stated that the CVC had not cleared both the top officers’ names before their appointment in CBI. The CPI statment also said it would be appropriate for the apex court to take suo moto action in the matter and direct the government to take appropriate steps to re-establish the credibility of the CBI.