E-Paper
Of 173 requests pending for CBI probe, Maharashtra tops the list with 132
Of 173 pending requests, 128 are related to bank frauds alone. The amount involved in these 128 bank fraud cases that could not be taken up for lack of consent is worth ₹21,074 crore, Singh said in his reply.
At least 173 requests of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are pending with nine states, which have forbidden the central agency from taking up any new probes in their jurisdiction without their permission in the past four years.
Maharashtra tops the list with 132 such requests pending with the state since October 2020, when the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi)-ruled state decided to withdraw the general consent for CBI probes under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) act, according to latest data shared by the Union government in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Replying to a question by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Sushil Kumar Modi, Union minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions, Jitendra Singh shared that other states where CBI’s request for investigation is pending for the lack of general consent include Punjab, with 16 such requests pending there, Chhattisgarh (8), Jharkhand (7), West Bengal (6) and Rajasthan and Kerala (two each).
All these states, along with Meghalaya and Mizoram, have withdrawn the general consent for CBI probes since 2015 due to various reasons, primarily alleging that the agency was being used by the Centre to target political opponents.
Of 173 pending requests, 128 are related to bank frauds alone. The amount involved in these 128 bank fraud cases that could not be taken up for lack of consent is worth ₹21,074 crore, Singh said in his reply. Maharashtra alone has 101 bank fraud requests pending with ₹20,312 crore worth funds involved.
CBI spokesperson R C Joshi claimed last month that “there are around 100 high value bank fraud cases that could not be registered due to non-accordance of specific consent u/s 6 of DSPE act by state governments where the general consent has been withdrawn”.
The Supreme Court, too, in November last year, expressed concern over the issue. A bench headed by Justice S K Kaul said “it is not a desirable position”.
In the absence of general consent, mandatory for filing cases and carrying out raids, the CBI has to approach the states on case-to-case basis.
The data shared by Jitendra Singh on Tuesday with Rajya Sabha reveals the agency received permission in 101 such cases from states.
Interestingly, Maharashtra also tops the list among the nine states for granting special permission as it allowed CBI to carry out probes in 52 such requests. It is followed by Punjab, which gave permission to CBI in 27 cases out of 101 such approvals in nine states.
“The cases in which only central agencies can conduct a probe will be immediately approved. A review of such cases is being done by the home department. After the issue of the pending nod to 13 cases of fraud worth ₹13,044 crore in private and nationalized banks was raised in Parliament and state assembly recently, the home department started their review and issuing permissions. Home minister Dilip Walse Patil had directed us to clear them on priority,” an official in the Maharashtra home department said, seeking anonymity.
Cases which are being probed by state agencies would not be handed over to the CBI, unless directed by the Supreme or Bombay high court, the official said. “Some of the cases are politically utilized against the state government by the Centre. The provision of the general permission was withdrawn in October 2020 to avoid the misuse. In such a backdrop the permissions are given very cautiously,” the official added.
“The cases in which only central agencies can conduct a probe, will be immediately approved. The review of such cases is being taken by the home department. After the issue of the pending nod to 13 cases of fraud worth ₹13,044 crore in private and nationalized banks was raised in Parliament and state assembly recently, the home department started their review and the permissions are being issued. Home minister Dilip Walse Patil had directed us to clear them on priority,” an official in the Maharashtra home department said, seeking anonymity.
The permissions pertaining to cases which are being probed by state agencies would not be handed over to the CBI, unless directed by the Supreme or Bombay high court, the official said. “Some of the cases are politically utilized against the state government by the Centre. The provision of the general permission was withdrawn in October 2020 to avoid the misuse. In such a backdrop the permissions are given very cautiously,” the official added.
West Bengal, which withdrew consent for CBI probes on November 18, 2018, didn’t give permission to the CBI in a single case. The agency sent six requests to the state government in the last four years.
Even though Mizoram was the first state to disallow CBI to operate in its territory, on July 17, 2015, no requests have been sent there so far. Meghalaya was recently, on February 9 this year, added to the list of states keeping CBI out of its borders.
COMMENT FROM MAHA AND WB
To be sure, the withdrawal of consent under DSPE doesn’t restrict the agency from carrying out probe in ongoing cases as well as those taken up on the orders of courts.
A former CBI director, requesting anonymity, said: “Unlike other federal agencies such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Enforcement Directorate (ED), which enjoy all-India jurisdiction without any prior permission under relevant sections pertaining to terrorism and money laundering, CBI cannot challenge the decision of state government as police is a state subject. However, it has an option of going to high court or the Supreme Court in individual cases”.
