New Delhi: The CBI on Saturday told the Delhi High Court that the AAP government is trying to give “political colour” to the raid conducted last month at the office of Rajendra Kumar, principal secretary of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said the documents seized from the office of Rajendra Kumar “prima facie reflect criminal conspiracy and criminal misconduct and abuse of official position by the accused persons”.
Defending the seizure of documents during the raid conducted at the office of Rajendra Kumar, located next to the chief minister’s office in the Delhi Secretariat, the probe agency said proper procedure for search was followed.
The decision to raid was not influenced by any political party and “the colour given by the AAP government is unwarranted”, it added.
“It is submitted that at the initial stage of investigation relevancy of the documents cannot be disclosed even if known to the investigation agency as it can do harm to the ongoing investigation,” the CBI said.
The CBI filed a counter affidavit on its own plea challenging a trial court order directing the probe agency to release documents seized during the raid on December 15, 2015.
The Delhi government on Friday in its reply said the CBI acted under “political pressure” in “indiscriminately” seizing documents.
The raid at the Delhi Secretariat was “not only devoid of merit but also smacked of vindictiveness and arbitrariness”, the government has said, adding that the probe agency raided the office of Rajendra Kumar in “unprecedented haste”.
The CBI officials raided the Delhi Secretariat on December 15, alleging they were investigating corruption charges against Rajendra Kumar.
Kejriwal claimed his office was raided too, and linked it to a probe he had ordered against union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on issues related to alleged corruption in Delhi and District Cricket Association of which Jaitley had been an office-bearer.
The CBI denied searching Kejriwal’s office.