Judicial probe against Central agencies unfortunate: Rajnath

Thiruvananthapuram: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the Kerala government's decision to recommend a judicial inquiry against central probe agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the gold and dollar smuggling cases, was "unfortunate" and amounts to challenging the federal structure of the Constitution.

Singh, who is in Kerala to campaign for the BJP-NDA candidates in the April 6 Assembly polls, also said the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) will be implemented only after taking all the communities into confidence.

The UCC is there in the BJP manifesto.

"We will take all the communities into confidence and go forward. We are firm on that decision", Singh told reportershere.

On the rising fuel prices, he said the Centre had requested all the states to reduce the state duty on petrol.

On the smuggling cases, he said: "I came to know that the case is being probed by the ED and then a judicial commission has been appointed against the central agency. It's very unfortunate. This means the state government is challenging the federal structure of the Constitution. This is 100 per cent against the constitution."

The CPI(M)-led LDF government had recently decided to order a judicial enquiry against the central agencies, including ED, for allegedly "derailing the probe" in the gold smuggling and dollar scams, days after the Kerala Crime Branch registered an FIR against some ED officials.