CBI behaving like 'pet performing parrot' of Modi regime: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday termed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as behaving like a "pet performing parrot" of the Narendra Modi government.

"The biggest proof of this that in the 2G spectrum case, there are three verdicts. The first verdict is 1,556 pages long. But even before this verdict was uploaded, the CBI and ED (Enforcement Directorate) said that they would go for appeal," Congress spokesman Manish Tiwari said.

"Now, the CBI and ED are not private lawyers, they are state agencies and are supposed to function in a fair, objective and transparent manner. There are separate directorates of prosecution in both CBI and ED. Did these directorates, or anyone else in the two agencies, before making such a comment make a value judgment whether there are grounds for conviction or not?" Tiwari asked. 

He said that before filing an appeal against an acquittal, the investigating agency needs to take the High Court`s permission.

In response to a question, the former Union minister said that to hope that CBI and ED will probe the multi-crore Srijan scam that has taken place under Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar`s "nose", is like "kite flying".

"We have been demanding that probe in the Srijan scam should be dome by a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT)," he said.

The Srijan scam refers to the fraudulent transfer of huge government funds in the account of a Bhagalpur based NGO called Srijan Mahila Sahyog Samiti between 2004 and 2014.

On his party continuing alliance with Lalu Prasad`s Rashtriya (RJD) Janata Dal even after his conviction by a CBI court in a fodder scam case, Tiwari said that court cases and political alliances are "two separate things". 

A special CBI court on Saturday convicted RJD chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad and 15 others in a case relating to the multi-million rupee fodder scam.