'Çhowkidar'(PM Modi) removed CBI director because he was raising questions on Rafale: Rahul Gandhi

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the allegations in the afternoon and said the move was taken to maintain the fairness of an impartial probe, as well as to maintain the highest standard of integrity of the country's premier investigating agency.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Jhalawar. (PIC/Congress-Twitter)

New Delhi: The ongoing legal battle between the warring top two officials has precipitated into a huge crisis in the CBI with the Congress party linking it to the controversial Rafale deal. Congress President Rahul Gandhi in his rally speech in Rajasthan's Jhalawar routinely launched a blistering attack on PM Narendra Modi accusing him of removing CBI Director Alok Verma who had been raising questions  related to the Rafale pact. Earlier, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government has put the "last nail" in the independence of the CBI by removing Verma. Systematic dismantling and denigrating of CBI is now complete. Once a premier investigating agency, PM ensures that CBI's integrity, credibility and reliability is 'buried and dead', he wrote on Twitter. Has the CBI Director been sacked for his keenness to probe the layers of corruption in Rafale Scam? Isn't the rest a shoddy cover up? Let PM answer, his accompanying tweet read. Surjewala further said " the prime minister has demonstrated the true colour of his infamous 'Modi Made Gujarat Model' by this cloak-and-dagger mugging of the CBI." Party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi also charged at the govermnent saying it has no power to interfere in appointments. "CVC (The Central Vigilance Commission) has no power to appoint or remove CBI Director. CVC is being misused by the government. CVC is supervisory body, supervises the CBI," he said. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissed the allegations in the afternoon and said the move was taken to maintain the fairness of an impartial probe, as well as to maintain the highest standard of integrity of the country's premier investigating agency.