Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed his views on the recent decision sending CBI director Alok Verma to go on indefinite leave and termed it as 'illegal'.

Gandhi said that forcing the CBI Chief Verma to go on an indefinite leave was 'illegal' and alleged that it was done as the government panicked over the possibility of him investigating the Rafale jet deal.

The Congress president claimed that Verma's removal was an 'insult' to the Constitution, the chief justice of India and the leader of the opposition. The move was completely "illegal", the Congress chief said.

The interim charge of the agency has been given a person who has cases against him so that the prime minister can control him, Gandhi alleged, referring to joint director Nageswara Rao.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday said Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana were asked to go on leave as per the recommendation of the Central Vigilance Commission and it was "absolutely essential" to maintain the institutional integrity of CBI.