Team Anna supports CBI on Lokpal

CBI, which has expressed unhappiness over various issues related to Lokpal, today got support from Team Anna which said the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee were dangerous and should be rejected.

"We support CBI's protest and believe that the Standing Committee's report is dangerous and should be rejected," Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal told reporters here.

He said the recommendations, if implemented, will cripple the functioning of CBI.

"Preliminary enquiry is being made compulsory in all cases which may warn the corrupt that he is under CBI radar and allow him to protect himself before a raid takes place. We support CBI's argument and they are rightly protesting against the recommendations," Kejriwal said.

He accused the government of using Hazare's campaign to dilute the role of CBI. His comments came as CBI wrote a letter to Department of Personnel and Training, saying the proposed move to make preliminary enquiry by Lokpal mandatory before giving cases to CBI will "severely impair" effectiveness of the agency in anti-corruption cases as it would lose the "surprise element" to carry out search operations, sources in the agency said.

According to the letter, the agency at present gathers information from various sources and plans and executes a search operation to collect documents and evidence but if the preliminary enquiry by Lokpal is made compulsory and if the suggestions would be implemented, the agency will lose the "surprise element" to carry out such operations.

The agency also cited lack of enthusiasm about the recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Lokpal bill that all complaints of corruption cases which are in the nature other than trap cases shall first be scrutinised by Lokpal by holding a PE.