BJP sees conspiracy in CBI actions, says GoM an `eyewash`

New Delhi: A day after its leader Gulab Chand Kataria was chargesheeted in Sohrabuddin encounter case, BJP on Wednesday accused CBI of working at Congress` behest to implicate its members under a "well-planned conspiracy" and dubbed as an eyewash the setting up of GoM to insulate the agency from political interference.

Rejecting all charges against Kataria, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, BJP President Rajnath Singh said the party stands behind him and will expose attempts of CBI and Congress both "legally and politically". BJP has levelled these charges against CBI at a juncture when the agency is facing the heat from the Supreme Court for allowing vetting of the status report in the coal scam case by then Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Government had announced formation of a Group of Ministers yesterday to look into ways of making the agency independent. BJP, however, termed the move as an "eyewash". Singh, flanked by BJP Rajasthan unit chief Vasundhara Raje and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, said these cases are part of a "well-planned conspiracy". "The CBI chargesheet against Kataria is without any basis. He is known for his propriety and credibility. There is not a shred of truthful evidence against him. The case is being pursued by CBI with the intention of implicating senior BJP leaders at the behest of the Congress," Jaitley said. Jaitley, an eminent lawyer, maintained that CBI`s supplementary chargesheet in the Sohrabuddin case against Kataria- who was Rajasthan Home Minister when the encounter took place- is the third such instance of the investigating agency trying to "implicate" a BJP leader. He cited the case of former Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah- also in the Sohrabuddin case- and Rajendra Rathore in another encounter case. Jaitley showed CBI documents to insist that the agency had aimed at "implicating" Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi through Shah in 2010. Referring to the alleged bribery case against P K Bansal, Jaitley said the evidence against the former Railway Minister is "100 times more" yet the agency is going soft on him. PTI