Punjab, WB, Kerala among 9 states to refuse consent to CBI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 28

Nine states, including Punjab, have not given general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register and investigate offences, the government said on Thursday. The other states were Mizoram, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand and Meghalaya, Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh said in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question by Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai.

Fight over Jurisdiction

• The CBI has the power to investigate offences notified only in Union Territories
• The Centre can extend the CBI’s jurisdiction, but the consent of states is a must
• No consent required in investigations marked by the SC, HCs

The Maharashtra leader had asked whether prior consent of the state government was necessary for each and every crime that the Union Government proposed to hand over to any central agency. He had also sought details of the number of states that had agreed or disagreed. Jitendra Singh said the CBI had the power to investigate offences notified in the union territories only and the Centre could extend the jurisdiction to other areas, including railway areas and states. But states had to give consent, the minister added.

However, in case the Supreme Court and high courts entrusted matters for investigation to the CBI, there was no requirement for any notification conveying consent. In states where general consent has not been accorded or where the general consent does not cover the particular case, then there is requirement of specific consent of the state government. Only when the consent of the state government was received could extension of the CBI jurisdiction be considered, the minister explained.

Punjab, under the then Capt Amarinder Singh government, had withdrawn the general consent accorded to the CBI to investigate cases in November 2020.

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