Former senior police officers today by and large welcomed the Supreme Court's strictures against the government and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the coal block allocation scam report/affidavit.

Former CBI Director DR Karthikeyan said: "The (apex)court has taken a very serious view. The PMO (Prime Minister's Office) and the law ministry had access to the report on coal. We should whit till the final verdict of the court."

"What the CBI did is wrong. The CBI should be liberated. Every country should have an independent agency. This happens in many other countries, and with some (police) reforms it can be done here also," he added.

Former CBI Director Joginder Singh said that the Supreme court was absolutely right in telling the CBI not to behave like a "parrot in a cage', but behave like a "free bird' and do its duty as the country's premier investigative agency.