Truth slips out, Cong mastered art of "misusing" CBI: Jaitley

New Delhi, Feb 9:

on Sunday said the truth about alleged political misuse of

had "slipped out" after the reported comment by its Director Ranjit Sinha in the Ishrat Jahan case, charging that

has "mastered the art of manipulating" the agency during the UPA's decade-long rule.

Sinha is reported to have said that the UPA government would have been happy had Narendra Modi's aide Amit Shah been chargesheeted in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

Although Sinha yesterday denied having made the remark, BJP leader Arun Jaitley stepped up the offensive against the Congress-led coalition. "Yesterday, a statement by the CBI director was published ... The truth slipped out... The denial of the CBI director that he made the statement is immaterial.

"There is voluminous evidence available with regard to the pliability of the CBI even independent of his retracted statement," he said in an article on his blog.

"The UPA during the period 2004-2014 mastered the art of manipulating the CBI. The CBI during this period was not controlled by the government. "Worse still, it was controlled by the ruling party," Jaitley said while calling for seriously examining the process of alleged manipulation of CBI by UPA.

Reacting to Jaitley's comments, Union Minister Rajiv Shukla said, "CBI works as an independent agency. There is no interference of government in it. To say that government regulates or instructs it is wrong."

Jaitley also went on to say that independent of the CBI director's statement and the clarification, as the tenure of the UPA draws to a close, it may be helpful if the process of manipulation of the CBI is seriously examined.

He said a pliable person is selected to become the Director of CBI, which as an organisation is driven by its chief and he has the last word. Jaitley said investigating officers prepare the investigation file with the idea of inculpating or exculpating a particular person and "internal checks and balances had completely collapsed".

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha also alleged that the CBI directors were offered fresh jobs on the eve of retirement and a post-retirement job would be suggested to them and "this would contribute to their pliability".

PTI