New Delhi: Describing the CBI as a "caged bird or the Congress Bureau of Investigation" is incorrect, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Tuesday, noting the investigative agency must confine itself to policing and not question the laid out policy.
Speaking at the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) international conference on 'Evolving Common Strategies to Combat Corruption and Crime', Chidambaram cautioned the investigating agency to respect the line that divides policy making and policing.
Chidambaram's remarks came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was not proper for probe agencies to sit in judgement over a policy decision taken in good faith.
Chidambaram also differed with the Supreme Court's observations in May this year, describing the CBI as a "caged parrot".
He said investigating agencies, including the CBI, should be constructed in new India on pillars of "clearly defined objectives, precisely enumerated powers and carefully designed accountability mechanisms".
Chidambaram said an offence is committed when a prescribed rule of conduct is violated and if there is no prescribed rule or its violation, there is no offence.
