Sunday, January 23 2005 17:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) today (Jan 23, 2005) slammed Railway Minister Laloo Prasad for announcing to accord full-fledged commission status to the Justice U C Banerjee committee saying law and order was a state subject and engaging a commission or a committee to probe a crime amounts to 'unnecessary interference in judiciary and against the constitutional rights of a State.'

''It is not the duty of the Railway Ministry to investigate a crime. Law and order is a state subject and no commission or committee will be legally and constitutionally valid to investigate such case,'' BJP general secretary and in charge of Bihar Arun Jaitley told a press conference.

Prasad had gone on record promising to accord the status of a full-fledged commission to the U C Banerjee committee probing the Godhra incident arming it with necessary legal teeth to summon and issue non-bailable warrants of arrest against all those who fail to comply with its summons.

Jaitley said BJP had already expressed its view against setting up of such a committee on the Godhra incident and alleged that even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had 'not maintained silence but has sided with the Railway Minister giving a go ahead to the constitution of such an unconstitutional committee headed by Justice U C Banerjee.'