Punjab withdraws general consent to CBI

Punjab had revoked/withdrawn the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). From now, CBI will have to take permission from the state government to investigate any case. This comes within a week after Jharkhand and Kerala decided to withdraw the general consent to CBI.

Key Points

• The Punjab government released an official notification on November 8 stating that prior consent of the state government will be required by CBI to probe any case.
• The Punjab government has said in the official notification that it is revoking general consent from all the members of Delhi Special Police Establishment. The notice further stated, with the general consent revoked, permission will be required to investigate any offence under Section 3 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
• The state government has revoked this consent by exercising its powers conferred by section 6 of the Act.
• CBI comes under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 and will therefore have to take permission from the government for any investigation.
• Before this also, the state government had withdrawn consent to CBI to investigate religious cases in 2015. A resolution was passed by the state assembly in this regard in the year 2018. Now, the probe of such religious cases is under the special investigation team of Punjab.

Other States which have withdrawn general consent to CBI

Before Punjab many other states have revoked the consent to CBI to probe cases. These states are Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

About Central Bureau of Investigation

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the central investigating agency of India. The agency works under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and is headquartered in New Delhi. Rishi Kumar Shukla is the present CBI Director.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2020