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Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Government has revoked general consent orders issued to the Central Investigation Agency (CBI) under the ‘Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946′. Now the CBI, which reports to the Central Government, will need to seek the consent from the State Government before investigating each case in the state.
Punjab has now become the eighth state to revoke this blanket consent after Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Kerala, Tripura and Mizoram that also withdrew the general consent, alleging that the BJP-led government at the centre was misusing the agency to harass political opponents.
As reported earlier, according to Section 3 of the DSPE Act the Central Government may issue a notification to specify the offences or classes of offences, which are to be investigated by the Delhi Special Police Establishment, that is the CBI. Section 5 of the DSPE Act empowers the Central Government to extend to any area the powers and jurisdiction of the CBI for investigation of any offences specified in a notification under Section 3. However, as explained by news reports, the power under Section 5 of the DSPE Act is subject to Section 6, which provides for the consent of State Government to exercise powers and jurisdiction by the CBI under Section 5 read with Section 3.
Section 6 of the DSPE Act reads: “Nothing contained in Section 5 shall be deemed to enable any member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State, not being a Union territory or railway area], without the consent of the Government of that State.]”. Under Section 6 of the Act, all states except Delhi and the Union Territories have the discretion to give their consent to the for a probe in the state. Except in Delhi, Law and Order, including the police are under state governments’ purview.
These are the states which recently withdrew the general consent:
November 8, Punjab
The Punjab government notification issued on Sunday, November 8 stated,”…the Government of Punjab hereby withdraws the general consent accorded to the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment, anytime herein before. In view of revocation of all previous general consents issued earlier, prior consent of the Government of Punjab shall be required, hereinafter, on a case-to-case basis for investigation of any offence or class of offences…”
November 5 Jharkhand
Jharkhand government’s order withdrawing general consent to CBI to conduct investigations in the state said: “The powers vested on CBI were given dated 19th February 1996 by the erstwhile then Bihar Govt to CBI… the governments of West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and earlier Mizoram had recently withdrawn the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a kind of blanket nod for the agency to probe scheduled offences specified in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSE) Act, 1946.” Jharkhand government is a coalition of the JMM, Congress and the RJD, and defeated the BJP in December 2019. Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren had announced that the “order has been issued by the Government of Jharkhand to the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to withdraw consent to use powers and jurisdiction in the state under a law. There will no longer be a consensus for the use of powers and jurisdiction in Jharkhand Which was given under an order issued by the Government of Jharkhand (erstwhile Bihar) on 19 February 1996. Now CBI will have to take permission of the state government to investigate any case.”
November 4 Kerala
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, withdrew the blanket ‘general consent’ given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct probes in its territory. The Kerala cabinet met and took this decision. According to news reports the immediate provocation for the decision was the CBI case being registered to probe ‘life mission’ housing project, a flagship initiative of the Kerala government to provide shelter and housing to the homeless. The project was stalled temporarily after the CBI registered a case to probe alleged irregularities in the ‘Life Mission’, forcing the state government to approach the high court. The high court stayed the CBI investigation for two months reported News18. On November 2 Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that various central investigating agencies probing into the gold smuggling case were “exceeding their jurisdiction in a concerted effort to malign and destabilise the constitutionally elected government in the state.
October 21, Maharashtra
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray withdrew a blanket consent given to the CBI to investigate cases in the state. States not run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been alleging a step-child treatment by way of a constant erosion of federalism by the central government. Uddhay Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is in power in Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Two of the most high-profile cases in the state are already with central agencies: Bhima-Koregaon/Elgaar Parishad case is being investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Alliance partners, especially the NCP have been extremely vocal about the turn the case took after the NIA took over. From arrests of cultural activists of the Kabir Kala Manch, activists and lawyers like Surendra Gadling, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, even octogenarians like poet Varavara Rao and Fr. Stan Swamy, it has become clear that the case is being used to exact political vendetta against dissenters by finding new excuses to keep them in captivity. The Sushant Singh Rajput case saw a tussle over jurisdiction with Bihar police, following which the Supreme Court cleared the path for the CBI to take over. But even after all the drama that unfolded with both, the Narcotics Bureau and the Enforcement Directorate were drawn in, and the public shaming of a young woman amidst a media circus continues.
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Now, Jharkhand withdraws general consent to CBI to conduct investigations in the state
Kerala Govt withdraws blanket consent to CBI for probes in state
Uddhav Thackeray withdraws consent; CBI can’t just swoop in any more