Congress-ruled Jharkhand on Thursday, 5 November, became the latest state to withdraw the general consent extended to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct investigations in the state.
The investigation agency will now need the permission of the Hemant Soren government to launch a probe within the state.
With this, Jharkhand has become the eighth non-BJP state – like Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan – that has effectively shut their gates to the agency, reported NDTV.
Earlier, Tripura and Mizoram had also revoked the general consent in the past.
An official stated: “The powers vested on CBI were given dated 19 February 1996 by the erstwhile then Bihar Government to CBI. The governments of West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and earlier Mizoram had recently withdrawn the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), a kind of blanket nod for the agency to probe scheduled offences specified in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSE) Act, 1946,” Hindustan Times reported.
Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh withdrew its general consent in November 2018 after pulling out of the NDA, accusing the Centre of undermining the credibility of the agency, reported NDTV.
However, the decision was overturned after the Jaganmohan Reddy government came to power last year.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times and NDTV)
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