CBI under Congress-led UPA was pressuring me to frame Modi, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the CBI had put pressure on him to frame Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an alleged fake encounter case in Gujarat during the Congress-led UPA government. He was responding to charges by the Opposition that probe agencies were now being misused by the Modi-led government.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had put pressure on him to frame the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi in a fake encounter case when Congress was in power at the Centre. The remarks of the home minister came after PM Modi disregarded the Opposition’s escalating protests against the alleged misuse of central agencies.

Amit Shah was replying to a question on Opposition’s charge that the Narendra Modi government is “misusing’ central agencies to target them at a media event.

“The CBI “was putting pressure” on me to “frame Modi ji” (when he was Gujarat CM) in an alleged fake encounter case during the Congress government,” he said, adding that the BJP never raised a ruckus despite this.

PM Modi on Tuesday hit out at the Opposition, saying some parties have together launched a campaign to save the corrupt, terming it the “Bhrashtachari Bachao Abhiyan”. PM Modi’s remarks came as the opposition has been putting up a united front in light of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as MP over a defamation conviction.

“All the faces that are involved in corruption are coming together on one platform,” said PM Modi.

“Our foundation is strong because of our constitutional institutions. Today, this foundation is being attacked to stop India,” he added.

Fourteen opposition parties, including the Congress, have approached the Supreme Court over “arbitrary use” of the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) against its leaders. The Supreme Court admitted their plea and agreed to hear it on April 5.

ON RAHUL GANDHI’s CONVICTION

Asked on Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a criminal defamation case by a court in Surat, the home minister said the Congress leader was not the only politician who was convicted by a court and lost membership of the legislature.

Instead of moving to a higher court, Rahul has been trying to create hue and cry and blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his fate, he said.

Amit Shah said Rahul Gandhi should go to a higher court to fight his case, instead of trying to put the blame on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said Congress is spreading misconception; conviction can’t be stayed. “The sentence can be stayed if the court decides,” he said. “He has not appealed to take stay on his conviction. What kind of arrogance is this? You want a favour. You want to continue to be MP and will also not go before the court,” Shah said.

Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to a two-year jail term by a Surat court following his conviction in a 2019 defamation case. A day later, he was disqualified as a Lok Sabha MP. Rahul Gandhi was on Monday asked to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him by April 22.

The Housing Committee of the Lok Sabha took this decision following which the secretariat of the House wrote to the former Congress president, a Z-plus protectee who has been living in the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow since 2005.