According to media reports, the Congress party has sought the immediate removal of the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), KV Chowdary, accusing him of being a ‘vigilant slave’. The unreasonable demand came just a few days after the removal of former CBI chief Alok Verma. Earlier, a panel led by PM Narendra Modi which also comprised of Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge and Justice Sikri, removed the former CBI chief based on the CVC report.
Making the demand, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi, said, “We seek the removal, departure and exit of the collaborator for violating the Constitution that is the CVC. He must go. It is clear the CVC is acting as ambassador for Rakesh Asthana (Special director of CBI). He is functioning as the vigilant slave of the government, particularly the top two (pointing at Amit Shah and PM Modi)”. Congress spokesman further added, “I can see the CVC is batting for Asthana. He has forgotten to be vigilant about the Constitution and the nation… Till now we had heard the CBI is a ‘caged parrot’, now we have a new vigilant slave of government who is acting as collaborator for violating the Constitution”.
Though the Grand Old Party accused CVC chief as “an ambassador and agent” of Rakesh Asthana, but reports convey a contrary story. Interestingly, the CVC’s report shed a light on Verma’s misdoings especially his relations with the meat exporter Moin Qureshi who had some questionable dealings with certain UPA era leaders and officials.
To say the least, Moin Qureshi is a controversial character. He first came on the radar of CBI, Income Tax department, and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in 2011 when the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence caught Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan with Rs 56 Lakh in cash at the Delhi Airport. The singer claimed that the money was given to him as the fee for his performance at the wedding of Moin Qureshi’s daughter in Delhi. The CBI took more than three years to register a case against him as it finally filled a case after the ED cautioned the CBI about the irregularities on the part of Moin Qureshi, on August 31, 2016. Based on call records it said, “Moin Akhtar Qureshi has taken huge amount of money from different persons for obtaining undue favours from said public servants or politicians holding high public office during the relevant point of time.” As the investigation progressed, internal fault lines and corruption in the CBI was exposed. The names of former CBI directors- AP Singh and Ranjit Sinha- surfaced during the investigation. In fact, Qureshi is one of the reasons behind the tussle between Verma and Asthana.
Also read: Who wants to protect Alok Verma and why: Explained
During the UPA era, Qureshi exploited the CBI, its bosses appointed by the UPA and compelled the bureaucracy to serve his interests. The transcripts of conversations accessed by India Today from Qureshi’s BlackBerry Messenger shows the extent to which Qureshi knew the ins and outs of CBI and the bureaucracy. The transcripts give an impression that he also acted as a middleman.
Earlier, Asthana had alleged that he was removed from looking into INX Media case in which the CBI had filed charges against the former Union Minister P.Chidambaram and his son Karti and others.
It is very clear that the Grand Old party’s demand for the removal of the CVC chief is nothing but a political outrage against an honest officer. Now that Alok Verma is removed from the post of CBI chief, all those who indulged in corruption are under the radar of premier investigation agency including some very prominent UPA era leaders and officials, against whom the investigation was thwarted by Alok Verma.