BJP seizes CBI chief Ranjit Sinha's remark to attack UPA govt

NEW DELHI: BJP today used CBI chief Ranjit Sinha's remarks that UPA government would have been happy had Narendra Modi's aide Amit Shah been named as an accused in Ishrat Jahan encounter case charge sheet to attack the government, claiming its stand on the "misuse" of CBI stood vindicted.

"It is a very important statement coming from the Director of CBI. There was no prosecutable evidence even three years ago in Sohrabuddin Sheikh's case. CBI had obliged Congress-led UPA in its attempt to target the Prime Ministerial candidate of BJP, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, by charging and targeting Amit Shah," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

"The last time they obliged when there was no evidence even then. This time, they they for whatever reason could not oblige Congress-led UPA. This time too, there is no evidence. BJP and its position that CBI was being misused then and is being misused now stands vindicted," Sitharaman said.

She said the CBI Director stating that there were political expectations is a "very very serious statement" that vindicates BJP's charges all this while.

"The Congress party, because it does not know how to take on the Gujarat Chief Minister politically and is unable to fight Narendra Modi politically, therefore to target him, has continuously misused CBI," she alleged.

Sitharaman said that in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case, the High Court had released him and thus this time CBI did not oblige Congress-led UPA.

She said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley had written to the Prime Minister that there is targeting of the Gujarat Chief minister and the Home Minister.

"Our allegations have been proved right. And this allegation therefore is a very important revelation for the people of India to understand that the misuse of CBI is clearly on all the while", the BJP leader said.