Eknath Shinde govt restores CBI’s general consent to probe cases in Maharashtra

In March, the Centre told the Rajya Sabha that CBI had been unable to start investigations in 101 cases of banking fraud involving over ₹20,000 crore due to the withdrawal of consent by the state.

The Eknath Shinde government has restored the general consent to enable the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases in Maharashtra, two years after the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government revoked the consent in 2020, people familiar with the matter said.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde with deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis during Police Commemoration Day, at police headquarters in Mumbai on Friday (PTI)

“The state government has given general consent to the CBI to conduct criminal investigations,” said an official at the chief minister’s office.

The MVA withdrew the general consent granted to CBI under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act on the ground that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government were using the federal agency to target the ruling parties in the state.

The revocation of the general consent impacted CBI investigations in Maharashtra. In March, the Centre told the Rajya Sabha that CBI had been unable to start investigations in 101 cases of banking fraud involving over ₹20,000 crore due to the withdrawal of consent by the state.

Apart from Maharashtra, eight non-BJP states -- Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Meghalaya -- have withdrawn this general consent granted to the CBI since 2015.

The withdrawal of general consent implies that the central investigating agency has to seek specific permission from the state government for operating in the state. The absence of consent does not impact CBI investigations ordered by the courts.