Agencies handling corruption cases needn't be on defensive: PM Modi

New Delhi, November 3

Pledging full support to anti-graft agencies, PM Narendra Modi today said officers handling cases of corruption needn’t be defensive when people with “vested interests” attacked and maligned them.

Accountability must

Every corrupt individual must be held accountable. It is important to build such an atmosphere in country. You needn’t fear. — Narendra Modi, PM

Addressing an event to mark Vigilance Awareness Week organised by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), PM Modi said agencies must not spare the corrupt no matter how powerful the individual might be. In a veiled reference to Opposition leaders, the PM said people calling themselves honest were not ashamed to be standing next to corrupt individuals and getting photographed. “Agencies like the CVC need not be on the defensive. People with vested interests will try to strangulate the institutions and defame dedicated officials,” PM Modi said.

Sharing his own experience, he said, “I have also gone through mudslinging and abuses, but people stand with you when you walk the path of honesty.”