CHENNAI, JUNE 14
After the arrest of Power Minister Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in money laundering case, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday withdrew its general consent for an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The government’s move came amidst the ruling DMK’s criticism against the BJP government at the Centre that it is “misusing” central agencies to “silence” Opposition leaders.
The central probe agency will now have to obtain permission from the Tamil Nadu government before conducting any investigation in the state. Tamil Nadu became the tenth Indian state to withdraw its general consent for investigations by the CBI.
The other nine states which had withdrawn their general consent to the CBI to probe cases include Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal.
The CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSEA). This law makes the CBI a special wing of Delhi Police and thus its original jurisdiction is limited to Delhi. For other matters, the CBI needs the consent of the state government in whose territorial jurisdiction it has to conduct an investigation.
As per the DPSE Act, the central government can authorise CBI to probe a case in a state but only with the consent of the concerned state government. However, the Supreme Court and high courts can order a CBI probe in any state even without its consent.
However, despite the withdrawal of general consent by the Tamil Nadu government, the CBI can continue to probe old cases until the consent is specifically taken back by the state government. Further, the probe agency can also continue to investigate cases that were given to it by a court.
