Union minister Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary on Monday described as “baseless and malicious” the bribery allegations levelled against him by Central Bureau of Investigation Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and claimed he would resign from politics if they were proven to be true, PTI reported.
Sinha, who was part of the team investigating CBI Special Director Rakesh Asthana’s role in a corruption case, had filed a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday claiming that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s name had also come up during the inquiry. The petition claimed that there was evidence of Chaudhary
accepting “a few crores” to intervene on behalf of a businessman being investigated by the agency.
Chaudhary, the Union minister of state for coal and mines, later claimed he did not know the businessman. “Certain absolutely false and baseless allegations have been made against me,” he said. “I neither know nor have I met Mr Sathish Babu Sana, who is alleged to have paid me a bribe.”
Sana is a Hyderabad-based businessman who is under investigation by the CBI in a corruption case and has accused Asthana of accepting bribes to scuttle the inquiry.
Chaudhary said Sinha’s allegations were a “malicious attempt” to malign his reputation. “I welcome any inquiry into this matter and the law should take its own course,” he said. “If I am proven guilty, I am willing to leave politics.”
Sinha is among several CBI officials who had been transferred by the agency in “public interest” soon after the Central government sent CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana on leave on October 24. Sinha has challenged his transfer in the Supreme Court, as have the other officials.
Congress demands inquiry
The Congress on Monday sought an independent probe and said the allegations of corruption have raised questions on the functioning of the Prime Minister’s Office and the Narendra Modi-led government. The party said it will raise the matter in Parliament.
“Who are those helping the corrupt?” asked Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala. “Are those helping the corrupt sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office?”
He asked if Modi’s earlier slogan of “na khaaoonga, na khaane doonga” (will neither practise nor allow anyone to practise corruption) had now changed to “sab khane walon ko bachaoonga, aankh moondte dekhta jaoonga” (will save all the corrupt, will watch with eyes shut).
“When the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing and the CBI’s credibility is at stake, as it has been put at stake by words of this affidavit and when the Central Vigilance Commission responsible for investigating the entire matter, his own judgment and conduct is under a cloud, then democracy is in peril and the Constitution is in danger,” said Surjewala.
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