CBI Chief Meeting Arun Shourie, Prashant Bhushan On Rafale Upsets Centre
NEW DELHI, Oct 09: Central Bureau of Investigation director Alok Verma's meeting with former Union minister Arun Shourie and lawyer Prashant Bhushan on the Rafale deal has not gone down well with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-headed Union government.
Mr Shourie and Mr Bhushan met the CBI director last Thursday to file a complaint and urge the agency to investigate the Rafale deal and offset contract. The third complainant in the matter is former finance minister Yashwant Sinha.
The Union government is upset with Mr Verma, especially given the fact that Mr Sinha and Mr Shourie, who used to be with the BJP, have now become bitter critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"It is unheard of that the CBI director personally meets complainants, especially given that they are politicians," a senior cabinet minister told NDTV.
According to the minister, the normal procedure is to handover the complaint at the CBI office reception.
"Even junior officers refuse to meet complainants. The officer may meet a complainant only when a complaint is formalised and an inquiry is initiated," the minister added.
Along with a detailed complaint under the Prevention of Corruption Act, Mr Bhushan and Mr Shourie submitted documents buttressing their argument that the deal needs to be probed.
Alleging that the offset contract for the Rafale aircraft was actually a commission to a subsidiary of Anil Ambani's Reliance group, they asked CBI director Alok Verma to take the government's permission to initiate a probe in accordance with the law.
There's another reason the government is upset with Mr Verma - his alleged tussle with CBI special director Rakesh Asthana, the second senior-most officer in the agency.
"The credibility of the agencies has suffered as they seem to have gone into the hands of rogue elements," the minister lamented, referring not just to the CBI but also the Enforcement Directorate.
In a letter to revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, dated June 11, Enforcement Directorate joint director Rajeshwar Singh had asked a series of uncomfortable questions and accused him of "siding with scamsters". The letter was forwarded to Mr Adhia by Enforcement Directorate chief Karnal Singh.
CBI special director Rakesh Asthana and revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia are Gujarat cadre officers who are said to have been handpicked for these key positions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Centre's unhappiness with Mr Verma, Karnal Singh and Rajeshwar Singh could also stem from this fact.
Courtesy: www.ndtv.com
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
