Patna:Grand Alliance government in Bihar is mulling over not allowing CBI to enter the state in view of recent raids conducted by CBI on RJD leaders in Bihar. As the strongest ally, the RJD proposed that the state must withdraw the general consent to the CBI. The Grand Alliance leaders have been alleging that the central agency is being misused by the BJP-led government for political purposes.
“All the leaders had earlier expressed their apprehension that after the formation of a grand alliance government in Bihar, there are possibilities of central agencies being misused by the BJP. As per the rule, CBI needs consent from the state before beginning an investigation in the state. Nine states have already withdrawn the general consent and I also feel that the state government must withdraw it,” senior RJD leader and vice-president of the party Shivanand Tiwari told ETV Bharat.
However, JDU parliamentary board chairman Upendra Kushwaha differed with Tiwari claiming that no such decision has been taken by the state government. “To my knowledge, no such decision has been taken yet on this front to withdraw general consent to the CBI,” Kushwaha said.
Actually, the CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946 which was formed after the second world war to investigate cases related to corruption. According to the act, the CBI must obtain the consent of the state government before beginning to investigate a crime in the state. The consent of the state can be either general or specific.
As things stand now, nine states have withdrawn their consent to CBI to investigate cases which include Mizoram, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Kerala, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Meghalaya. The first state was Mizoram and the last one was Meghalaya.
Nevertheless, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is governed by the NIA, Act 2008 does not require any consent and has jurisdiction across the country. Similarly, when the Supreme Court or High Court directs CBI to investigate any case then there is no requirement of any consent from the state.
On withdrawing general consent in Bihar, former DGP of Bihar Abhayanand told ETV Bharat, “Once a court gives consent to investigate any case, the state cannot withdraw general consent. You cannot stop the CBI from entering Bihar.”
The issue of withdrawing the general consent is being discussed after CBI conducted a series of raids in Bihar on land for job scams which allegedly took place when RJD supremo Lalu Prasad was the railway minister at the Centre. Incidentally, the raids were conducted the day when Nitish had to face a trust vote in the Bihar legislative assembly.
In July 2022, the Centre informed Rajya Sabha that as many as 221 requests seeking consent for CBI investigation were pending before six states. In the pretext of the Calcutta High Court order of 2020, it has given the power to the central government and CBI to act against the officials in the state without their consent and the state cannot interfere in it.
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The order was later challenged in the Supreme Court and the apex court had also expressed concern over the state not granting consent to the agency. The CBI had informed the court in November last year that more than 150 requests were sent to states to grant specific consent for the investigation between 2018 to 2021.
Retired Director General of Police and 1983 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer S K Bhardwaj told ETV Bharat, “State cannot withdraw the general consent in any ongoing cases but yes if any fresh case comes up then the CBI had to take the general consent from the state to investigate.”
Taking a dig at Grand Alliance, Bihar BJP spokesperson and National General Secretary of BJP OBC Morcha Dr. Nikhil Anand said, “The grand alliance government of Bihar is feeling insecure because of internal political contradictions and corruption-related issues in which RJD is badly trapped. But on and off these grand alliance parties are making hue and cry over the autonomous central govt agencies just to deviate from the fact.
They are all set to challenge the federal structure and democratic fabric of India just to save their corrupt counterparts. Now, zero tolerance on crime and corruption seems like a farce slogan for Nitish Kumar and Company. It seems that CBI has collected some documentary evidence and RJD is afraid of it. It is the pressure of RJD on Nitish Kumar and alliance party leaders to initiate such steps which is against the federal tradition."
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on the other hand refused to speak on the issue when asked about the state government mulling withdrawing general consent. “I don't know what others are talking about. I have no idea about it," Nitish said.
