Manish Tiwari supports CBI action against IB official in Ishrat Jahan encounter probe

New Delhi, July 7: Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwari has supported CBI action against senior Intelligence Bureau official Rajendra Kumar in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, saying nobody can consider himself to be above the law. Tiwari was replying to questions in Rajat Sharma's show Aap Ki Adalat on India TV. Tiwari's remarks come at a time when the director of Intelligence Bureau Syed Asif Ibrahim has written a letter to the Home Ministry questioning the CBI action by saying that this would cause demoralization among his officers. "There is a dictum in law : Howsoever higher you may be, law is higher than you. This should apply to all in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case. It was nothing but inhuman cold-blooded murder committed in broad daylight", said Tiwari. "If the CBI finds the alleged role of some IB officials in this case, then let action be taken", the minister added. Tiwari reminded that he had himself brought a private member's bill in Lok Sabha on the need to bring intelligence agencies within a proper legal ambit.The I&B Minister said, "even if the charge is proved that Ishrat Jahan and her associates belonged to Lashkar-e-Toiba, the accused should have been prosecuted. A democratic country cannot allow police to commit cold-blooded murder in daylight. Even a terrorist like Kasab was brought to court and then hanged."Tiwari was particularly harsh on Gujarat police, which he described as "rogue", and said " it was not only Ishrat Jahan's case. There were fake encounters involving Tulsiram Prajapati, Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi. The Gujarat chief minister and the then home minister should be made accountable for these encounters committed in cold blood."The I&B minister said, Ishrat Jahan's family had to wait for nine long years for a central agency to unravel the conspiracy behind her murder. "The probe into fake encounters in Gujarat took place only after the Supreme Court intervened", he pointed out. Grilled by Rajat Sharma as to why CBI made former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal a prosecution witness in the bribery case involving his nephew, Tiwari said:"I can personally vouch for the integrity of Bansal ji, whatever verdict the court may give." From 1989 till 2004, I and Bansal ji have been practically rivals in Chandigarh politics, but I can personally vouch for his integrity. This is my personal opinion."Tiwari hit out at Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi for claiming through his public relations agency that 15,000 Gujaratis were rescued after the Uttarakhand floods. "All the elements of national defence, Indian Army, IAF, ITBP, NDRF and the state government had jointly managed to rescue 10,000 pilgrims by that date, and the Gujarat CM was claiming his officials had rescued 15,000 Gujaratis from Uttarakhand."I don't object to his inflated claim, but I object to his claim that 15,000 Gujaratis were rescued. When a natural disaster occurs, where is the question of Gujaratis, Punjabis, Madrasis or people from MP? He could well have said he had rescued 15,000 Indians", said Tiwari. When it was pointed out that BJP chief Rajnath Singh spoke to Modi, who said he never made the claim, Tiwari countered: "Where is the denial? Did the BJP or Gujarat government deny the newspaper report?"Tiwari hailed the Food Security ordinance saying history would remember the UPA government for this social security measure. "Twenty to 30 years from now, when social security in India will be evaluated, this will be hailed as a far-sighted measure of the UPA government", Tiwari said. Tiwari scoffed at the BJP's claim that Narendra Modi had 18 lakh followers on Twitter. "There is a physical identity and there are multiple virtual identities. Please find out whether the followers are created from call centres or not. "Karnataka is one of the most urbanized states where people use social media frequently. Then why didn't his magic work there", said Tiwari. Manish Tiwari in Aap Ki Adalat will be telecast on India TV today (July 6 ) at 10 pm and tomorrow (July 7) at 10 am and 10 pm.