Former central vigilance commissioner N Vittal accused CBI of not following its charter. "It is utterly unfair and incompetent on part of CBI (to name Parakh). They are not following their charter. I condemn CBI's action," he said.
"I have known Parakh. He is an honest person and has a good reputation," Vittal said.
The former CVC said going by CBI's logic as a minister in charge of coal ministry, Prime Minister should be held responsible for taking any decision on the matter.
Former IAS officer G Sundaram also condemned CBI's action. "I do not know him (Parakh). People who know him say he is an honest officer. But going by the charges, Prime Minister and senior officials in the PMO should also be named as the final decision was taken by them only," he said.
CBI has registered a case against Parakh and industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla on charges of criminal conspiracy and corruption in connection with alleged irregularities in the allocation of two coal blocks in Odisha in 2005.