Is possible Rafale probe behind Verma’s ‘exit’?

new delhi — The midnight government action immediately triggered a political war with opposition parties alleging that the government acted against Verma because he could be looking at a probe into the Rafale allegations over which a delegation of former union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie and senior advocate Prashant Bhushan had given a memorandum seeking a probe. They said the decision also struck at the independence of the investigating agency and constitutional authorities.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi said by sending Verma on a “forced leave” for collecting documents on the Rafale “scam”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a clear message that anyone coming around the jet deal will be “wiped out”. The country and the constitution are in danger, he said in a tweet. Addressing a public meeting in poll-bound Rajasthan, he said “do you know what the chowkidar (PM) did at night. The chowkidar removed the CBI Director because CBI was raising questions on Rafale deal. CBI Director had called for papers on Rafale.”

His party’s spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked whether the CBI Director was “sacked” for his keenness to probe “the layers of corruption in Rafale scam.”

At a post-cabinet media briefing, Arun Jaitley rejected the opposition allegation that Verma was removed because he was going to order a probe into the charges in the Rafale deal. “I regard this as rubbish. Three opposition parties are saying that we know what the agency was going to do next (Rafale probe). This cast doubts on the fairness of the probe. I don’t believe this is true. If what the three parties are saying is true, then this itself casts serious doubts on the fairness of the investigation. It violates the integrity of the person. —