In his seven-page letter, Bhushan said the intelligence agencies were working without any parliamentary control or oversight and this has led to misuse and corruption of these agencies by politicians and bureaucrats.
"India has the dubious distinction of being the only democracy in the world whose intelligence agencies have no legitimacy in the eyes of the law, and are not accountable to the people or Parliament.
"...I urge the government to take appropriate steps to bring out proper legislations to grant legal status to these intelligence agencies and make them accountable to the Parliament," he said.
He said till the time such legislation is passed, the government must bring out a proper mechanism by way of administrative orders so that these agencies could function in accordance with law and their accountability could be ensured to the Parliamentary Sub-committee.
He also demanded that the CAG should carry out annual statutory audit of these agencies.
"They must (also) carry out audit of their last five years' receipt and expenditure. If the government does not take any reasonable step in this direction within four weeks from the receipt of this letter, we would be compelled to approach the court for proper legal recourse," he said.
Giving examples of US, UK and other countries which had brought laws to make such agencies accountable, Bhushan said along with Parliamentary oversight, there is also the need for control over expenditure by intelligence agencies.
"In India, all public institutions are subject to statutory audit by the CAG. For some reason, intelligence agencies have so far been kept out of their purview.
"In the present case, though all these intelligence agencies are financed from the Consolidated Fund of India, still their receipts and expenditure are not being audited by the CAG," he said.
Alleging that these agencies have often been used for carrying out illegal acts by politicians and bureaucrats, he said it includes offering bribes to members of political parties to induce them change their loyalty, rigging and purchasing votes during elections, toppling elected governments, monitoring the activities and telephones of political opponents and so on.
"Since their operations are shrouded in secrecy, these illegal acts seldom come to light, except when exposed by whistle blowers who have served in these intelligence agencies. Some examples of misuse of intelligence agencies have come out in books written by those who have worked in these agencies," he added.
