No pressure to target Modi aide: CBI chief

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief Ranjit Sinha on Friday denied any pressure on him to name BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s key aide Amit Shah in the controversial Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

He said the agency has filed the charge sheet on the basis of evidence, which could withstand legal scrutiny.

Sinha also said it was never the intention of the CBI to go after the Intelligence Bureau (IB), of which four officers were charge sheeted in the case.

He said the CBI has gone through ups and downs and received bouquets and brickbats over the years but it has never compromised on its principles and core values.“Our conviction rate of more than 67 per cent is testimony to the rigour of our investigation and prosecution work,” he said at a session titled ‘CBI- Can Institutional Integrity Be Protected?’ at the India Today Conclave here.

On the issue of autonomy of the CBI, he said it was never the organisation’s intention to take itself out of the purview of executive. 

In a lighter vein he said, “We have been called vultures during Ishrat Jahan case, we have been called caged parrot and also unbridled horse. I think we have lost our identity to the animal kingdom.” Queried about political interference in the working of the CBI, Sinha said these are “interventions” enabling the agency to have a pragmatic and complete view of the matter under investigation. “It also depends upon the individual or organisation as how such interventions are taken.