Current Affairs Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination

Topic: General and Specific Consent to CBI

Why in News?

• Recently, a Calcutta High Court order expanded its jurisdiction to investigate the central government employees in West Bengal without seeking specific consent of the state government.
• There are at least seven states at present which have withdrawn general consent to the CBI requiring the agency to seek case-specific permission. They are Mizoram, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Jharkhand.
• All of these states are ruled by the opposition parties except Mizoram, where the ruling Mizo National Front (MNF) is part of the NDA but invariably takes a stance opposite of the BJP.

CBI: Background

• The CBI came into being during the World War II, when the colonial government felt the need to probe cases of corruption in the War and Supply Department. A law came in 1941. It became the DSPE Act in 1946.
• The Act to set up CBI was not passed by Parliament. It was created by an executive order of the government and thus, the CBI is not a statutory body.
• The CBI functions under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions of the central government, and is exempted from the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

CBI and General Consent

• Section 6 of the DPSE Act authorises the central government to direct CBI to probe a case within the jurisdiction of any state on the recommendation of the concerned state government.
• The courts can also order a CBI probe, and even monitor the progress of investigation.
• The Supreme Court and High Courts, however, can order CBI to investigate such a crime anywhere in the country without the consent of the state. There is a provision in the CrPC that allows search and investigation in a state by outside agency but it has to happen through a local court.

Types of Consent for CBI

• There are two types of consent for a probe by the CBI. These are: general and specific.
• When a state gives a general consent to the CBI for probing a case, the agency is not required to seek fresh permission every time it enters that state in connection with investigation or for every case.
• When a general consent is withdrawn, CBI needs to seek case-wise consent for investigation from the concerned state government. If specific consent is not granted, the CBI officials will not have the power of police personnel when they enter that state.
• This hurdle impedes seamless investigation by the CBI. A general consent is given to facilitate that seamless investigation in a case of corruption or violence.

Types of cases the CBI investigates in a state

• The CBI investigates three types of cases through three specialised wings. The Anti-Corruption Division that probes cases of corruption against public servants.
• The Economic Offences Division probes crimes of financial malfeasance, bank frauds, money laundering, black money operations, and the like. However, the CBI usually transfers cases of money laundering to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
• There is a Special Crimes Division to investigate cases of violence such as murder, crimes related to internal security such as espionage, narcotics and banned substances, and cheating. It is this division of the CBI that generally handles cases that get wide media coverage, for example, actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case.