General Consent Granted to CBI

Context: The government in Tamil Nadu announced that it has withdrawn the general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act. About General Consent:

• The CBI is governed by The Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.
• It must mandatorily obtain the consent of the state government concerned before beginning to investigate a crime in a state.
• Section 6 of The DSPE Act: The CBI needs consent from the respective State governments for conducting investigation in their jurisdiction.
• The consent of the state government to CBI can be either case-specific or general.
• This is consent by default, in the absence of which the CBI would have to apply to the state government in every case, and before taking even small actions.
• A general consent to CBI granted by State governments enables the central agency to carry out investigations without such hindrances.
• Other States that withdrew general consent: Mizoram, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala, Jharkhand, Punjab and Meghalaya.

Implications of withdrawal:

• The CBI will not be able to register any fresh case involving officials of the central government or a private person in the state without the consent of the state government.
• CBI officers will lose all powers of a police officer as soon as they enter the state unless the state government has allowed them.
• CBI retained the power to investigate cases that had been registered before consent was withdrawn.

Delhi High Court order in 2018:

• It ruled that the agency could probe anyone in a state that has withdrawn general consent, if the case was not registered in that state.
• The CBI could file a case in Delhi and continue to investigate people inside those states.

Additional Information: About Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI): CBI is the premier investigating police agency in India, which was set up in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Later, it was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel and now it enjoys the status of an attached office. The establishment of the CBI was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962–1964). The CBI is not a statutory body. It derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. It functions under the superintendence of the Dept. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances, GoI – which falls under the Prime Minister’s Office. Wings of CBI: Anti-Corruption Division Economic Offences Division Special Crimes Division

 News Source: The Hindu