New Delhi, Jan 31 (IANS) The ruling Congress Tuesday said it needs to read the full judgment before reacting to the apex court order setting a three-month deadline for the government on sanctioning the prosecution of public servants for corruption.

“We have respect for the Supreme Court order but party cannot make any comment on a judgment without reading it,” said Congress spokesperson Rashid Alvi.

Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) reaction calling it a slap on the government’s face, Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said: “It is a politics of irresponsibility as it is inappropriate to comment without reading the full order.”

“The principal opposition party can react without reading the whole text but not the Congress party. I find it astonishing to react to allegations when they (BJP) could not wait to react to a judgment, even when lawyers have not got the full text of the order,” said Tiwari.

The Supreme Court Tuesday gave the government a three-month deadline for deciding whether or not to sanction the prosecution of a public servant under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The apex court said this while allowing a petition by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy saying the prime minister was sitting on his application seeking sanction to prosecute former telecom minister A. Raja for his alleged involvement in the 2G scam.

There has been no comment from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) so far on the Supreme Court verdict.

A senior PMO official told IANS that the government would study the judgement in detail and the law ministry would come out with an “appropriate response if it warrants”.

The official said it will be improper to react to reports based on Swamy’s interpretation of the verdict.

The apex court bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly also said the time period would be extended by another month if the government wanted to take the opinion of the attorney general.