Stopping CBI from performing their duties “unprecedented”, Centre has powers to take action: Rajnath

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh Monday hinted at the possibility of a constitutional breakdown in West Bengal after the Kolkata Police-CBI scuffle and brief detention of CBI sleuths seeking questioning of West Bengal Police Chief saying “the Centre has power to take action” .
Amid uproar over the Sunday night incident at the residence of West Bengal Police Chief the Union Home Minister told the Lok Sabha stopping the CBI officialsfrom performing their duty is “unprecedented.”
Making a statement in Lok Sabha over the prevailing situation in Kolkata, Rajnath Singh described the action against the CBI probe team,a threat to the federal political system of the country, adding that “there may be constitutional breakdown in West Bengal… under the Constitution, the central government has been vested with the power to maintain normalcy in any part of the country.”
Rajnath Singh’s statement came in reply to the charges from the opposition members who while raising the issue in the Lok Sabha alleged misuse of central agencies against political rivals, saying it was against democratic norms.
Members from Trinamool Congress, Biju Janata Dal, NCP and Samajwadi Party spoke against the CBI move to question the Kolkata police chief.
A CPI-M member said both the Trinamool Congress and the Centre were at fault. As soon as the House took up Zero Hour, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan allowed members to raise the issue.