Which law says CBI must inform CM before raiding office? Kejriwal should apologise: BJP

New Delhi: A furious BJP on Tuesday lashed out at Arvind Kejriwal for his “disgraceful” remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and said it was shameful that the CM who came from the “womb of” anti-graft stir was protecting an officer involved in a “textbook case of corruption”. [caption id=“attachment_2546540” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] Demanding an apology from the Delhi Chief Minister for calling Modi a “coward and psychopath”, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad rubbished his claim that CBI raided his office, saying it was not even “touched” by the agency. Addressing a press conference, he also questioned Kejriwal over the appointment of an officer facing corruption allegations, asking why had he not done due diligence. Prasad said the IAS officer, Rajendra Kumar, who is principle secretary to Kejriwal, is accused of helping a private firm in getting Delhi government’s contracts wherever he was posted and CBI raided his office and home after getting a court warrant. “Which law says that CBI should have informed the chief minister before raiding his officer’s office? There is no such law…. You (Kejriwal) would announce names of corrupt people in your press conferences and it was fair and here CBI is acting as per law and you claim it is bad,” he said. Prasad noted that the CBI had raided 14 places and only two of them belonged to Kumar. The charges date back prior to the AAP government coming to power, he said. “A textbook case of corruption is being given political colour for extraneous reasons…The use of such expressions for our popular prime minister is totally uncalled for, unwarranted, disgraceful and condemnable,” he said. What made Kejriwal’s defence of the officer more “shameful” was that he claimed to be an “epitome of virtue” having come out of the “womb of a fight against corruption”. CBI had on Tuesday morning raided Kumar’s office in a corruption case that led the AAP chief to call Modi a “coward and psychopath”. Kejriwal claimed that his office was raided which was denied by the CBI as well as the government. Prasad said when CBI recently arrested a Delhi government officer, Sanjay Pratap Singh, the AAP government had “owned it up” and highlighted its anti-corruption measures but it was now condemning CBI because the officer concerned was working with the chief minister. “It is double standards and hypocrisy,” the BJP leader alleged. “The way AAP is defending an officer facing serious charges raises questions. CBI should be allowed to work in a free and fair manner,” he said. With many political parties attacking the Centre over the raids and terming them a violation of federal structure, he noted that the CBI had raided the principal secretary of then Punjab chief minister when HD Deve Gowda was prime minister. “Protecting corruption is not part of federal structure,” he said. On the Congress’ charge that the government was not acting against BJP chief ministers, he claimed that the allegations against them lacked substance, accusing Congress of resorting to “lies” and changing issues every hour to disrupt Parliament. Earlier in the day, a number of Union ministers and BJP leaders hit out at Kejriwal over his attack on Modi. “It has become a fashion with him to quarrel with the central government and to take the name of the Prime Minister for each and every thing. The CBI does not function under the government,” Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said. Naidu claimed that “unlike during the Congress regimes”, the NDA Government does not “misuse” CBI and allows it to function independently. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar termed Kejriwal’s reaction as “atrocious” and accused him of “protecting” the corrupt and engaging in “worst kind of politics”. Strongly objecting to Kejriwal calling Modi a “coward and psychopath”, BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma said it showed the Delhi chief minister’s desperation to “protect an officer accused of corruption.” “Why this double standard? On the one hand he dismisses a minister accused of corruption and on the other hand he is protecting an officer charged with corruption. Why is he covering up corruption of some?” Sharma said. PTI