UPA would have been happy if CBI had charged Amit Shah in Ishrat Jahan case: Ranjit Sinha

New Delhi: A major political controversy has erupted over Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI director Ranjit Sinha's remarks that the UPA government would have been happy had BJP leader Amit Shah been chargesheeted in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case.

"There were political expectations... The UPA government would have been very happy if we had charged Amit Shah," Mr Sinha said in an interview to a newspaper.

Mr Shah, former Gujarat Home Minister and Narendra Modi's close aide, is accused of conspiring to kill teenager Ishrat Jahan and three others in a staged encounter in 2004 on the grounds that they were on their way to kill Mr Modi.

The CBI, in its two chargesheets filed in the case so far, has refused to look at the political conspiracy behind the killings.

"There were some doubts, but that was not enough to amount to evidence (against Shah). Clearing Shah is testimony to the fact that it is a fair and thorough investigation," Mr Sinha is quoted as saying to the newspaper.

The CBI director soon issued a clarification, claiming he has been misquoted. "I have been misquoted unfairly and out of context. BJP, Congress both may be very angry with us, but we have done a fair investigation. We have shown we are not a Congress Bureau of Investigation, as many allege," he said.

Despite the clarification, the BJP went all guns out against the Congress.

"One thing is clear that the Congress has used people for their political motives. They have done shameless works with the constitution. CBI is trying to get out of this circle and protect its dignity," party spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

The Congress denied giving any brief to the investigating agency. "CBI officers enjoy full autonomy. It is very unfortunate that even then the CBI director made such a statement," party leader from Gujarat, Arjun Modhwadia, said.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal-United, which severed its 17-year-old alliance with the BJP over Mr Modi's elevation as its prime ministerial candidate, called for Mr Sinha's resignation as CBI chief.