Rahul leads Congress march to CBI headquarters, demands 'reinstatement' of CBI director
New Delhi, Oct 26 : Congress workers led by their president Rahul Gandhi took to the streets on Friday against the move to divest CBI Director Alok Verma of his powers and send him on leave, and to demand an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress, which marched from Dayal Singh College on Lodhi Road to the CBI headquarters about a kilometre away, has termed the move against Verma "illegal and unconstitutional".
Senior Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, Veerappa Moily and Anand Sharma, took part in the march that culminated in a demonstration ahead of the CBI headquarters.
Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, CPI leader D Raja and TMC's Nadimul Haque joined the protest.
Carrying placards against the prime minister, the protesters walked the distance with scores of police personnel maintaining vigil and camera crews jostling with each other to capture the moment.
One of the protesters was carrying a placard depicting the Central Bureau of Investigation in a cage.
Gandhi got on to a truck in front of the police barricades put up ahead of the CBI headquarters in the CGO complex to prevent the protesters from reaching the building.
Gehlot said the decision to remove CBI director Alok Verma was "illegal".
"The chief justice of India, the leader of the opposition and the prime minister can together take a decision to remove him, but not the prime minister alone," he told reporters.
"Our demand is to reinstate the CBI director. As per the law, he can be transferred only with the consent of the appointing authority (comprising Chief Justice of India, the prime minister and the leader of opposition). The prime minister should tender an apology to the nation for destroying the image of the premier investigating agency," Gehlot added.
The government has strongly defended its decision, saying it was "absolutely essential" to maintain the CBI's institutional integrity and the move was based on recommendations by the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
The Congress' protests in the national capital were replicated in other parts of the country.
State Congress leaders led demonstrations in their regions against what the Congress described as the "illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate removal of the CBI director by the Modi-Shah duo that has shamed India and its premier investigative agency".
Alleging that the prime minister is experiencing 'Rafale-o-Phobia', the opposition party said the "demolition of the CBI" was prompted by fears that the director was going to conduct a probe into the fighter jet deal.
The government sent Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana, who have accused each other of corruption, on leave on Tuesday.
It also transferred several CBI officials and appointed M Nageswar Rao as the interim chief of the agency. The Congress protest was held soon after the matter came up in the Supreme Court.
The apex court said former Supreme Court judge A K Patnaik will oversee a CVC inquiry into the allegations and counter allegations and the report has to be placed before it within two weeks.
It directed that interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao shall not take any major policy decisions. Decisions taken by him since October 23 till date shall not be implemented, it said.
All decisions taken by Rao shall be placed before the apex court in a sealed cover.
The court sought a response from the CBI, the CVC and the Centre on Verma's plea challenging the government's decision to divest him of his duties.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi posted the next date of hearing on November 12.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
