The Supreme Court on Monday expressed 'serious concern' over several States withdrawing general consent for the CBI to operate within their territories, saying it is not a desirable position.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh referred the matter to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, after noting the CBI's assertion as many as eight States, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram, have withdrawn the general consent previously granted to the agency under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
The CBI also said it has sent over 150 requests to the governments of Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Kerala and Mizoram during the period 2018 to June, 2021 for grant of specific consent for investigation of cases.
The requests were made for investigating trap cases, disproportionate assets cases, cases relating to allegation of cheating, forgery, misappropriation and loss of foreign exchange and also bank fraud cases.
However, permissions were granted in less than 18% cases, related mainly in cases of trap of corrupt central public servants, it added.
The issue of general consent to the CBI arose on its against an order of Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a case against two lawyers Mohammad Altaf Mohand and Sheikh Mubarak in a case relating to threatening of witnesses and fabricating false evidence.
Several non-BJP ruled States withdrew the general consent to CBI, claiming the central government was misusing the agency to settle scores against opposition leaders.
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(Published 08 November 2021, 14:04 IST)
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