Govt using CBI as private militia: BJP

NEW DELHI: Alleging that the government was misusing CBI as a "private militia", BJP on Monday said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance that his dispensation will take all steps to ensure the agency's legitimacy was "strange and hypocritical".

At a CBI conference on tackling corruption, Singh said the government will do all that is necessary to establish the agency's legitimacy and protect its past and future work.

"This sounds strange and hypocritical especially when Congress uses CBI and such central agencies as private militia. BJP takes objection to such attempts of Congress to subvert the democratic processes and institutions which uphold the constitutional fabric of India," BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi said.

The main opposition party charged that CBI was being used as a tool by Congress and the government should ensure its autonomy. It said the country was aware of the "casual approach" of the government towards CBI.

BJP noted that at a time when the government was "mired" in corruption cases and when CBI was probing the coal block allocation scam, the PM on Monday cautioned the agency not to get into issues of policy-making.

"The prime minister said policy-making is complex and it would not be appropriate for a police agency to sit in judgment over policy formulation without evidence of malafide," Lekhi said.

BJP has alleged that the PM was aware of the anomalies in coal block allocations and was culpable as he had held the coal portfolio from 2006-09 when the controversial deals were made.

"The prime minister is either ignorant or the stand on CBI has been taken in a state of panic. Economic decisions should be subject to public scrutiny," BJP said.