In a fresh tussle between chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and the Centre, the Telangana government on Sunday withdrew general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the state, making it the ninth state to do so.
West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Meghalaya, have currently withdrawn general consent for the CBI to probe cases in their jurisdiction. Maharashtra had earlier withdrawn the consent but later revoked the decision.
According to a Telangana government order, prior consent of Telangana is required for the central probe agency on a case-to-case basis to investigate in the state.
The development comes after the BJP and TRS have indulged in a war of words over several issues in the recent past that have led to acrimony between the two parties.
Though the government order (GO) was issued two months ago, it did not figure in the public domain until Saturday when the additional advocate general (AAG) informed the Telangana high court, during arguments on a petition filed by the BJP seeking a CBI probe into the TRS MLAs poaching case, that the general consent for CBI was withdrawn by the state government.
"Government of Telangana hereby withdraws all previous general consents issued by the State Government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Central Act XXV of 1946), vide any letters or notifications including the Notification issued in G.O.Ms.No.160, Home (SC) Department, dt.23.09.2016, to all the Members of Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the State of Telangana," the GO read.
{{/usCountry}}"Government of Telangana hereby withdraws all previous general consents issued by the State Government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Central Act XXV of 1946), vide any letters or notifications including the Notification issued in G.O.Ms.No.160, Home (SC) Department, dt.23.09.2016, to all the Members of Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the State of Telangana," the GO read.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP also dragged Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha's name in the Delhi liquor policy scam which is being probed by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate. She, however, denied the allegations.
On August 31, the chief minister had said in Bihar's capital Patna that all states should withdraw the general consent given to the CBI.
Addressing a press conference in Patna with chief minister Nitish Kumar by his side, Rao alleged that all central agencies were being "misused" by the BJP to target its political opponents.
(With inputs from PTI)