Move to insulate CBI from external influence an eyewash: BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday dubbed as an eyewash the setting up of a Group of Ministers to draft a new bill to insulate the Central Bureau of Investigation from political interference. Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the issue of autonomy of the CBI has been discussed at length in the debate over the Lokpal Bill as well as during the meeting of the select committee of the upper house.

He said the select committee has already given its recommendation on the matter and the Union Cabinet has approved most of these. Jaitley said there were differences between the government and the opposition on certain points, but there was a broad agreement on most of the issues regarding autonomy of the CBI.

"The new Group of Ministers on autonomy for the CBI is an eyewash. There is no need to start afresh," Jaitley said, adding the Lokpal Bill passed by Lok Sabha also has provisions on autonomy to the CBI by amending the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.

The government on Tuesday constituted a GoM, headed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, to prepare a draft law to insulate the CBI from external influence and a draft affidavit within three weeks in the Supreme Court which had made scathing observations on the agency.

The GoM will deliberate on ways to further strengthen the CBI's autonomy and safeguard it from any kind of outside interferences. The GoM has been constituted after the Supreme Court had indicted the CBI for being a "caged parrot" of its political masters while hearing a case related to alleged irregularities in coal blocks allocation.

Meanwhile, BJP's national spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi, who is on a Hyderabad visit told mediapersons, “The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government is trying to subvert and undermine the authority of the three pillars of democracy -- the executive, the legislature and judiciary.”

Trivedi said that the confidence of people in the entire establishment of the state has been severely damaged during the UPA government rule and cannot be restored by mere resignation of two central ministers.