CBI should not sit on judgement on policy: PM

With the CBI grabbing headlines through the year, some of which even involved the PM's name, Manmohan Singh had a word of caution for the country's top investigative body today, reports CNBC-TV18's Malvika Jain. As the CBI completes 50 years, Dr Singh's advice to the agency was clear - tread cautiously in policy matters to be able to distinguish between crime and judgement errors.

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Speaking at CBI’s 3-day International conference on evolving common strategies to combat corruption and crime, Singh said, "It is also important that errors of judgment are distinguished from criminal acts. As I have said on earlier occasions, decision making in a world of uncertainty is a highly risky operation and some decisions which appear sensible ex ante may ex post turn out to be faulty. Our administrative set up has to be so managed that the fear of the unknown must not lead to paralysis in decision making."
With the CBI probing multiple controversial scams, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has been under fire for his alleged role in the coal block allocation controversy, today asked the CBI to be careful while judging policy issues - when a charge sheet is filed, the charge sheet must go through rigorous process of scrutiny and there must be a high chance of securing conviction in that case. This highlights the need for greater professional expertise in the CBI, Singh added.
However, it wasn't all cautionary advise, the Prime Minister also extended his support to the investigating agency even as the Guwahati High Court has questioned the legality of the CBI. Singh said, "This is a matter that will undoubtedly have to be considered also by the highest court in the land. The Government will do all that is necessary to establish the need for the CBI and its legitimacy, and protect its past and future work."
Assuring the CBI, Singh today said the CBI's autonomy is already guaranteed... something that did not go down well with the opposition. BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "This is an argument of desperation by the Prime Minister. The CBI is being misused by your government to bail out those who support you politically like Mayawati and Mulayam Singh."