New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi courted arrest on Friday after staging a protest outside the Crime Branch of India (CBI) headquarters in New Delhi.
The protest was against the Centre’s decision to send CBI director on leave and divesting him of his powers.
The Congress chief was arrested by Lodhi Road police.
Rahul said the government can detain him as many times as it want, “but they cannot hide the truth.”
Addressing a gathering earlier in the day, the Congress president took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue and accused him of destroying institutions like CBI, Election Commission and the Enforcement Directorate.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has deceived the nation. He can run away from the truth, but he cannot hide it. People of this country have realized what PM has done. Changing the CBI director will not work,” he said.
Senior Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot, Ahmed Patel, Motilal Vora, Veerappa Moily and Anand Sharma; Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, CPI leader D Raja and TMC’s Nadimul Haque took part in the protest march.
Similar protests were held in other parts of the country as well.
The Congress described the removal of CBI director by Modi-Shah duo as “illegal, unconstitutional and illegitimate.”
The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has directed former SC judge A K Patnaik to oversee a CVC inquiry into the allegations against Verma and the counter allegation. “The report has to be placed within two weeks,” it added.
The interim CBI chief M Nageswara Rao has also been directed not to take any major policy decisions. “Decisions taken by him since October 23 till date shall not be implemented,” it added. All decisions taken by him will be placed in front of the apex court in a sealed cover.
