Conscious of parameters, Congress says after SC's CBI rap

The Congress remained "conscious of the parameters that have to be maintained" while the task of governance continues, the party said Wednesday after the Supreme Court expressed its displeasure in the coal blocks allocation probe and termed the CBI a "caged parrot" that "speaks in its master's voice".

"We have taken note of the valuable suggestions ... we remain conscious of the parameters that have to be maintained even as we continue with the act of governance," Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury told reporters.

"We are sensitive to what the court is saying," she said.

An apex court bench, headed by Justice R.M. Lodha, Wednesday also asked the government whether it was contemplating a law to make the working of the CBI independent and insulate it from extraneous intrusion and interferences.

Asking the government to make the investigating agency impartial, the apex court said it needs to be ensured that the CBI functions free of all external pressures.

"If the CBI is not made independent, we will step in," it observed.