Nine states, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal, have withdrawn general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe cases, Union minister of state for personnel minister Jitendra Singh said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The nine states are Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal.
West Bengal was the first state to take the decision in September last year.
The announcement comes amid the Opposition’s repeated criticism of the BJP-led government at Centre for "misusing" central agencies like the CBI, ED (Enforcement Directorate) and others for political gains.
Highlighting the withdrawal of general consent, a parliamentary committee said that an existing law governing the probe agency has “many limitations” and there is a need to enact new legislation to define its status, functions and powers.
What does general consent to CBI mean?
According to Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the CBI needs consent from the state governments for conducting an investigation in its jurisdiction, MoS Singh informed the Parliament through a written reply.
In terms of the provision of Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946, general consent to the CBI has been granted by state governments for the investigation of a specified class of offences against specified categories of persons enabling the federal agency to register and investigate those specified matters, Singh said.
In other words, without the general consent from these states, CBI cannot exercise its power in the respective states. This distinguishes the agency from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which has authority across states.
