Union minister says obstructing CBI from performing is a criminal offence in law

Amid the tussle between the CBI and the West Bengal government over probe into the chit fund scam, Union minister Jitendra Singh Monday said obstructing the probe agency from performing its duty is a "criminal offence". He said, this is in contrast to the high standards of public conduct and propriety that were established by Narendra Modi as the then chief minister of Gujarat when a series of "motivated and unsubstantiated cases" were filed against him by the CBI at the behest of the UPA government, but not even once did Modi obstructed the working of CBI and instead, voluntarily offered to face interrogation for hours together at a stretch.

By doing so, Modi reiterated his faith in the rule of law and legally fought out the cases filed against him, and finally obtained a clean-chit, the minister said. "Obstructing CBI officers from doing their duty is a criminal offence," Singh told PTI.

He hit out at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for violating Constitutional propriety. "What is being witnessed in Kolkata is not only unbecoming of a high political functionary like chief minister, but is also a clear violation of the Constitutional propriety and the spirit of law," said Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, that acts as a nodal department for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A high-drama had unfolded in Kolkata Sunday when a team of CBI officers was manhandled by the city police force. The team was there to conduct its enquiry in connection with its probe in a chit fund scam case. Singh said when the concerned police officer associated with the Special Investigation Team in this case refused to respond to the repeated summons by the CBI to appear for interrogation, the CBI was left with no option but to reach out to him.

"But, when it did so, the CBI officials were not only harassed but also prevented from performing their legitimate duty," he said. As per the guidelines by the Personnel Ministry, Singh said, a government functionary, is expected to conduct himself in a "politically neutral" manner, but here was the instance of a high-ranking police officer sitting on dharna on a political platform.

Refuting Mamata Banerjee's charge that this was an assault on the federal structure, the minister said, on the contrary, the action of the West Bengal government and the chief minister had eroded the federal spirit of closely coordinated working between the Centre and the state, without intruding into each other's domain and at the same time, leaving enough space for each other. When asked about the various opposition parties coming together in support of Mamata Banerjee, Singh said, this is an interesting feature witnessed over the last few months.

"The leaders of these political parties wake up every morning looking for an excuse to come together and interestingly today, the excuse that has brought them together is related to cover-up of a multi-crore corruption scam which only goes on to expose their common concern to hide their misdeeds and scams," he said. They have, in other words, come together to form so called "Mahagathbandhan" of the "rule of corruption under anarchy", the minister added.

(With inputs from agencies.)