"Is it wrong for CBI to follow the Supreme Court's instruction?", asks Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while giving a point-to-point rebuttal on #MamataBlocksCBI

The opposition is supporting Mamata Banerjee in the standoff between the CBI and the West Bengal CM over the investigative agency's attempt to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar. In a press conference conducted on the #MamataVsCBI matter, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad gave out certain details and questioned Mamata Banerjee's government and Congress' flip-flop in the matter. 

"Today the press briefing is about what is going on in West Bengal. It is important to convey the matter, its developments and cause. This Mahagathbandhan of corrupt people is trying to say that the central structure is falling apart. They need to answer this question first: Is it wrong to conduct an inquiry on corruption?  Is it wrong on part of the CBI to follow the Supreme Court's instruction to unearth hundred of scams that have looted small entrepreneur? The fundamental question today is that this is not a 'Ganthbandhan', we call it an opportunist alliance but today it is also emerging as a coalition of corrupt to save each other. And in order to do that they are breaking the constitutional barriers. Mr Kejriwal had set a new trend by sitting on Dharna and Mamata Ji followed it. But Commissioners of police is also sitting on dharna with political leaders. Where is our country going? The people of the country needs to know". 

He then listed down two important dates to shed more light on the matter: 

"Sharda scam and rose valley scam and all of these were before our government came into power. I will inform you about two dates. On April 26, 2013, Mamata Ji's government constituted a SIT to investigate into all these scams over thousands of crore. At that time BJP was not in the government and who was the head of the SIT. It was Rajiv Kumar. Within a span of one year, some went in favour of Congress and some went against them. The Supreme court on May 9, 2014, ordered an inquiry into the scams and also stated that a CBI will also look into the conspiracy angle as to who was involved in the matter. I also want to add that inquire the money trails and also look into the wrongdoings of Regulatory bodies."

Read: Politico-legal Storm In Delhi After CBI Vs Mamata Stand-off In Kolkata: LIVE Updates Here

Furthermore, he read out an 'interesting tweet' to explain Congress' changed stance after 2014:

"I want to read out this interesting Tweet. There is no mention of this tweet. This was tweeted by Congress on May 8, 2014. It reads- Twenty lakh people lost their money in Chit fund scheme in West Bengal- Rahul Gandhi. I will leave the changing stance of Rahul Gandhi--then and now-- for you to scrutinize".

Giving out certain bullet points, he clarified:

• Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister of the country on May 26, 2014
• Narda-Sharda was before our government took charge of the country
• The Supreme Court gave the order for investigation before our government came into power
• The petitioners were the supports of Congress and Left

"Therefore, it is really important to understand questions being raised questions against Modi Ji and Amit Shah".

He then put forth a question to Mamata Banerjee and her government:

"In all of this, Madan Mitra was arrested. He was their Minister. Sudipta Bandyopadhyay was also arrested. And two of their MPs Kunal and Tapas also came under the law. Never ever did Mamata Banerjee spoke about this at that time. So, what is so special about this police commissioner that she is sitting on Dharna for him? 

Read: Past Tweets On Mamata Banerjee Come Back To Haunt Rahul Gandhi, "she's Protecting Those Looting Bengal" Becomes "we Stand Shoulder To Shoulder"

Crashing the claims of TMC that no summon was issued to the Police Commissioner, the law minister clarified:  

"It seems that this police commissioner knows a lot. Therefore, it is so important to save him. When CBI took over after the SC's order, it asked for papers from the SIT. TMC is saying that no warrant was issued, this is incorrect. The CBI issued a summon to the commissioner thrice, asking to record his statement. The rest of the details will be revealed by the CBI." 

"I will give you some details that we have gathered. Under CRPC, investigating authority has the power to call anyone to record their statement. Thrice the summon was sent to the Police Commissioner but he made excuses. When the CBI called the SIT officers for inquiry they made excuses like old age, transfer etc. No help was proved by the police", he concluded.