CBI denies rediff.com report on Jaitley

On August 15, 2007, we carried a news report filed by Managing Editor Sheela Bhatta that quoted the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Vijay Shankar, blaming senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley and his predecessors in the Bureau for creating a weak case against Ottavio Quattrochhi in the Bofors case, which enabled him to walk free from Argentina.

The CBI has since sent us a rejoinder signed by G Mohanty, Deputy Principal Information Office, that states:

Attention of the director, CBI, has been drawn to a news report in your news portal entitled as above. Publication of such an imaginary, baseless and perhaps, malicious article in your esteemed news portal has come as a shock to Director, CBI.

I have been directed to inform you that no such statement of any kind has been made by the Director, CBI to the reporter, Ms Sheela Bhatt.

Sheela Bhatt replies:

I stand by my report.