Modi govt responsible for demolition of RBI, CBI: Abhishek Manu Singhvi

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday hit out at the Narendra Modi government, saying it was responsible for the "demolition" of institutions, such as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

"PM Modi and his government are responsible for the demolition of institutions, such as the RBI and the CBI. Have you ever had these kind of appointments made to the RBI?" Singhvi told India Today TV, referring to the appointment of S Gurumurthy to the RBI's board of directors.

Gurumurthy, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-affiliate Swadeshi Jagaran Manch co-convenor, was appointed to the committee as per provisions of Section 8 1C of the RBI Act, 1934 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. The move was criticised by the Opposition parties and alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was trying to interfere in the functioning of the



RBI.

Few weeks after the appointment of the appointment of Gurumurthy, a speech by RBI deputy governor Viral Acharya stirred a controversy when he suggested that the central government was interfering in the functioning of the apex revenue body.

"The governments that do not respect central bank's independence will sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets, ignite economic fire, and come to rue the day they undermined an important regulatory institution," Acharya said, on October 26.

Also earlier, in another top institution of the country, the CBI, the government undertook a major revamp by sending CBI director Alok Verma on leave and the agency's No 2 officer Rakesh Asthana on leave.

Both Alok Verma and Asthana, who were involved in a bitter feud, were sent on leave to stem the infighting and Nageshwar Rao, a joint director within the CBI was given the charge as the interim CBI director.