PMO dened role in Kesri's questioning by CBI

The prime minister or his office never gave any direction to the Central Bureau of investigation to question Congress President Sitaram Kesri, an official spokesman said on Tuesday.

The spokesman said ''neither the PM nor anybody else in the PMO has given any direction to the CBI to question the Congress president. The prime minister or the officials in the PMO were not not even aware of the CBI's move to question Kesri,'' he added.

Since Monday, when Congress spokesman V N Gadgil accused the PMO of forcing the CBI to initiate a probe on Sitaram Kesri, the United Front leaders were at pains to clarify the Front's position that the latter was not interfering in the CBI functioning.

Gadgil had described the CBI investigation on Kesri as a ''deplorable development'' saying that Kesri had already filed a statement of his assets to the Congress Working Committee and there was no way the CBI could pick on him.

Kesri was interrogated by the CBI two days ago in connection with the alleged disproportionate assets case filed by his former private secretary, Madhuresh Kumar.

Madhuresh Kumar, a Bihar-based journalist, filed a case with the CBI in September last year and had a meeting with the agency director Joginder Singh 10 days later. After a month, Kumar filed a public interest litigation complaining to the court of a lack of response from the investigating agency.

Janata Dal President Sharad Yadav also denied any hand of the PMO in the CBI investigation on Kesri.

Sources said the CBI had questioned Kesri in order to prepare a ''status report'' for submission to the high court hearing the public interest litigation against Kesri.

UNI