'Court to humaare kabze mein...': Shah on opposition claims of CBI, ED 'misuse'

Union home minister Amit Shah hit out Tuesday over claims the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party uses central investigative agencies - like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate - to harass and intimidate opposition leaders.

"Why don't they go to court... When Pegasus (allegations the government used an Israeli-developed software to spy on the phones of its critics) issue was raised, I had said 'go with proof to the court'... but they didn't," he said.

"They only know how to create noise. Court toh humaare kabze mein nahin hain (We haven't captured the courts)," Shah told news agency ANI in an exclusive interview two days before Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland hold elections.

Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party, have often accused the BJP of using the CBI, ED and other agencies to target (and recruit) their senior leadership.

On Monday the Sena (the faction led by ex-Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray) mocked prime minister Narendra Modi after his Parliament speech.

"Prime minister Modi thumped his chest and said he was fighting alone and outweighs opponents… but this is not true. He has pets like snakes, scorpions, and crocodiles in the form of central agencies to target opponents," the Sena said in an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana.

In July last year several opposition leaders wrote to president Droupadi Murmu alleging 'misuse' of these agencies by the BJP.

"We are writing to bring to your attention the continued and intensifying misuse of investigative agencies by the Modi government as part of a systematic vendetta campaign against its political opponents," the letter said.

The letter was signed by the Congress and the AAP, as well as Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

"The sole aim of this campaign is to destroy reputations and weaken the forces fighting the BJP ideologically and politically," the opposition leaders said.

In November Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee once again alleged that central agencies were prompt to act against opposition leaders but slow when a BJP leader is involved.

The following month the ruling party and the opposition clashed in the Rajya Sabha; this was after AAP MP Sanjay Singh claimed the ED 'has been used during last eight years to carry out 3,000 raids against opposition leaders…'

Singh's declaration prompted a warning from chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

READ | Centre, Oppn spar over probe agencies in Rajya Sabha, Dhankhar says..

The BJP has denied any claim of misuse of central investigative agencies.

Meanwhile, Shah also spoke out on more recent rows with the opposition - expunging parts of Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge's Parliament speeches and allegations his party 'favours' the Adani Group.

On that topic he said the government had 'nothing to hide or be afraid of'.

READ | 'Nothing to hide...': Shah on Cong allegations BJP 'favours' Adani

The union minister also backed the BJP to emerge victorious in next year's general election, declaring the saffron outfit 'has no competition' and that prime minister Narendra Modi has 'the full support of the people of India'.

With input from agencies