The Supreme Court of India has declared that the consent of the concerned State Government is mandatory for a CBI inquiry under its jurisdiction as it conforms to the principle of federalism. The Supreme Court also said that the Central Government will not be allowed to expand the jurisdiction of the agency (CBI) in that state without the consent of any state.
The decision taken by the Supreme Court has come in the context of eight non-BJP states – Kerala, Jharkhand, Bengal, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Punjab, who have given their general powers to the CBI to investigate new cases under the jurisdiction of the state. Consent is withdrawn.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AM Khanwilkar, while referring to Sections 5 and 6 of the DSPE (Delhi Special Police Establishment) Act governing the functioning of the CBI, has held that, it can be seen that, even though Section 5 and 6 The Central Government may be allowed to extend the powers and jurisdiction of DSPE members in a State, other than the Union Territories, but as long as the concerned States extend such extension within their territory under Section 6 of the DSPE Act The Central Government cannot be granted this permission till it gives its consent for
The Supreme Court bench has ruled this out due to an appeal filed by some accused, who challenged the validity of the investigation by the CBI in a corruption case against them on the ground that prior consent was not taken by the concerned state government. Two accused in the so-called case are state government employees and the rest are private employees.
Rejecting his appeal, the apex court stated that, the state of UP had given a general consent under the Prevention of Corruption Act in 1989 to extend the power and jurisdiction of DSPE members to the entire state.
The court also said that, although there is a condition (rider) with the above, no such inquiry will be conducted in matters related to public servants, under the control of the state government, except with the prior permission of the state government.
