New Delhi: An “independent” CBI should raid the PMO, seize files and make arrests in connection with the Rafale fighter jet deal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Friday, as his party lodged a police complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh registered a complaint against Modi at North Avenue police station here after a report was published by The Hindu newspaper on the Rafale deal. “In the light of today’s expose on Rafale, ‘independent’ CBI shud raid PMO, seize all the files related to Rafale and make arrests just like they raided my office and residence and Kolkatta police commissioner(sic),” Kejriwal tweeted.
The report published by The Hindu claimed the Defence Ministry raised strong objections to “parallel discussions” conducted by the PMO or Prime Minister’s Office during the negotiations over the Rs 59,000 crore Rafale deal between India and France. Singh maintained that his party was the first to flag Rafale deal “scam” as he cited a letter written by him to the Chief Vigilance Commissioner(CVC), the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) and the CAG last year.
“The truth that has come to the fore now has exposed real the face of Modi. We have been saying from day first that there is a scam of Rs 36,000 crore,” Singh alleged at a press conference. Singh was one of the petitioners before the Supreme Court, seeking a probe in the alleged “scam” in the Rafale deal. AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP ND Gupta demanded seizure of all documents quoted by The Hindu newspaper by the CBI so that no “tampering” is done to “dilute the seriousness” of the matter. The Rafale deal issue rocked the Lok Sabha as well, with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman dismissing the media report as “flogging a dead horse” and slamming the opposition for playing into the hands of vested interests.
