IAS officer Rajendra Kumar, who was Principal Secretary to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at the time of his arrest in July 2016, has levelled some very serious charges against the CBI.
Kumar, accused of corruption in awarding contracts, has written a sensational 26-page letter to the current Delhi chief secretary, where he has:
- Sought voluntary retirement from service (This comes less than a month after he was chargesheeted by the CBI)
- Alleged that CBI repeatedly told him that he would be set free if he implicated the Delhi Chief Minister. (He has not specifically said if he means Kejriwal)
- Alleged that CBI is subjecting many people in the computer scam case with criminal physical abuse that is “much worse than what was experienced and written by Mr Bansal [former Director General of Corporate Affairs BK Bansal who committed suicide]
Here are some of Kumar’s scathing statements in the latter, quoted by Indian Express and Times of India
- “During the last few months, I have experienced an administrative environment wherein it seems extremely difficult to secure fair treatment and justice from central government agencies.”
- “During interrogation, I was repeatedly told that I would be let free if I implicate Chief Minister of Delhi. May be this was the reason for the CBI to go to such extraordinary length.”
- “Never earlier have I experienced the kind of such utter disregard for system, process, protocol, transparency and decency which I have experienced first-hand in my own case.”
Here’s is the full letter posted on Twitter and retweeted by Kejriwal:
Expectedly, Kejriwal took to Twitter to lash out at the CBI and the government, even reiterating his infamous past tweet that “Modi is a coward and a psychopath”:
CBI, which has been embarrassed, has kept silent so far:
The CBI is maintaining a silence with an official justifying it to the Indian Express saying that the matter was sub-judice.
However, the report also quoted unnamed sources in the agency saying that the question of implicating Kejriwal didn’t arise because the alleged scam dated back to before his government came to power.
Is Kumar eyeing politics?
He hasn’t ruled out the possibility.
Even as the battle between the CBI and Delhi’s AAP government plays out, here’s a quick recap of the Rajendra Kumar case:
- Rajender Kumar, an IIT alumnus and 1989 batch IAS officer, was appointed by Kejriwal as his Principal Secretary in February 2015
- Kumar was accused by Ashish Joshi, who was sacked by Kejriwal in May 2015 as member-secretary of the Delhi Dialogue Commission, of corruption in the Delhi government between 2007 and 2014. The Congress was in power from 2007 to 2013 and the AAP was in power for 49 in December 2013-February 2014.
- Much to everyone’s amusement, Joshi was sacked for “chewing tobacco and smoking cigars in office” and later, for “conduct rules”.
- After the complaint was filed in connection with the alleged scam, the CBI raided Kumar’s office and residence. Kejriwal had cried foul that he was being raided.
- The CBI claimed it recovered Rs 27 lakh during the raids