Jaitley meets Rathore in jail; assures party's support

In a show of solidarity, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Monday met jailed Rajathan MLA Rajendra Rathore, an accused in Dara Singh fake encounter killing case, and said the party would help him fight his legal battle, while accusing Congress of using the Central Bureau of Investigation to serve its political agenda.

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, who accompanied by several BJP MLAs met Rathore at Jaipur Central Jail, said the party stands by Rathore whose arrest had no strong ground and slammed the CBI charge sheet.

"As a student of law, I read papers of Rathore's case but did not find the facts substantial. A fictional story can be written better than the charge sheet filed by CBI in this case," he said while addressing party workers at BJP state headquarters in Jaipur after meeting Rathore.

"If a citizen has to lose liberty on the basis of wrong facts, it is shameful. We can say that there is no rule of law in the country if the CBI can file such a charge sheet," he said, adding that the party would continue its protests against the arrest.

"The law will take its course if our worker has committed something wrong, but if he is arrested only because he is from BJP, the entire party is with him," Jaitley said.

Jaitely said that the CBI is a "tool for Congress for carrying out its political agenda. But we will fight."

He said that Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Pa       rty support the UPA government because their heads fear action against them in corruption cases lodged against them with the CBI.

"In fact, CBI functions to save the UPA government," Jaitely said, alleging that the party leaders in Gujarat were also being harassed by investigation agencies.

56-year-old Rathore, a five-time MLA and state BJP whip, was arrested by the CBI on April 5 for his alleged involvement in the fake encounter killing of local liquor smuggler Dara Singh in 2006.