The BJP on Friday accused the Congress-led Government of not being serious enough to grant autonomy to the CBI and continuing to misuse it for its political gains. The Opposition party also blamed the Congress of having a “pathological hatred” against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whom it was trying to falsely implicate in the Ishrat Jahan and Sohrabuddin encounter cases.
“We believe that the Government move’s to give autonomy to CBI is not only much delayed but is also far from perfect. The Government should ensure real and effective autonomy to CBI as per the wish of the people, indicated by the courts and recommended by the Parliamentary committee,” BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters here.
The Cabinet had on Thursday approved a recommendation by a parliamentary panel that the CBI Director should be selected by a collegium comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the leader of the Opposition in the lok Sabha.
“If the Government is accepting this recommendation for giving more autonomy to CBI, it is because all options — be it from the moral, political, legal or constitutional points of view — were closed for it. Hence, in the absence of any option, the Government was bound to do something,” Trivedi said.
BJP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said inspite of repeated defeats in elections, the CBI was being abused as an instrument to frame Modi on questionable, collusive and spurious testimony.
“The Congress has a pathological hatred against Narendra Modi even though the people adore him for impeccable integrity and outstanding record of governance,” the BJP leader said.
Prasad maintained that even the Supreme Court has observed that the probe agency is being abused and has called it a caged parrot. The “telling observation” of SP chief Mulayanm Singh Yadav that whenever he takes a strong stand against the Government the CBI frames him also shows misuse of the agency, he said.
“In the Ishrat Jahan and the Sohrabuddin encounter cases, the entire stand of CBI is shifting. There is different allegation against former Home Minister of Gujarat Amit Shah of conspiracy and completely different in case of Gulab Chand Kataria (Rajasthan Minister),” Prasad said.
The BJP said it appears unlikely that the Government will be able to give a convincing opinion on July 3 to the Supreme Court on providing real autonomy to CBI. “The massive misuse of most constitutional institutions and especially CBI that this Congress-led UPA Government has made is unprecedented and condemnable,” Trivedi charged.
The party alleged that even in coal blocks allocation scam all limits were crossed when the Government tried to change the affidavit on the status report of CBI to cover-up corruption. “On several sensitive and national security and terrorism issues, CBI’s shifting stand clearly proves its political misuse,” Trivedi said.