New CVC KV Chowdary speaks to NDTV
On a day he was sworn in as the new Chief Vigilance Commissioner, KV Chowdary told NDTV that his meetings with former CBI chief Ranjit Sinha were not improper. Mr Chowdary's appointment has been mired in controversy after questions raised by senior lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Ram Jethmalani on his past.
When asked about those allegations, especially of his meetings with then Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief Ranjit Sinha during the 2G probe, Mr Chowdary said, "I deny these allegations, if the government had found merit in them, they would not have certainly selected me. On the other hand, the meeting of two investigation chiefs, whether it is at official residence or on office or certain work related issues, I don't see anything wrong. There are so many people meeting each other, right from the railway station or the airport to an office place and unless something criminal or something wrong happens in those meetings, the meeting in themselves has no sense."
Mr Bhushan had opposed Mr Chowdary's appointment, writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month to not select the former Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) chief. He alleged that Mr Chowdary's name figured four times in the list of persons who visited the former CBI director at his official residence, while referring to the Supreme Court's May order to investigate Mr Sinha's meetings with various accused persons.
"During the tenure of Sinha as CBI chief, Chowdary's role was investigated by the agency in 'stock guru' scam. Chowdary, who was chairman and member (investigation) of income tax, was apparently investigating Hawala dealer Moin Qureshi who repeatedly visited Sinha," Mr Bhushan said. He further accused Mr Chowdary of delaying the probe in the black money case.
"Chowdary was also in-charge of investigating HSBC account holders for almost three years. Until Supreme Court appointed the Special Investigation Team (SIT), there were almost no progress in the income tax investigation under him," Mr Bhushan said.
Mr Chowdary said, "I did meet Shri Ranjeet Sinha, he was the sitting director of CBI at that time and I met him in his official residence and at that time we had at least three to four cases where both the departments were together investigating and there is nothing wrong or impropriety in that."