CBI will no longer need nod from state government to conduct any raid or investigation in Rajasthan. The chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma restored the general consent for CBI to probe cases in the state.
With this CBI will not require any formal permission from state government to investigate any case. Within a month into power chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma restored the consent which was suspended for more than three years.
In July 2020, then Congress government had withdrawn general consent to the CBI to conduct raids and investigations n Rajasthan. This is done under the section three of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, which states that CBI would require prior consent from state government to conduct any investigation on case to case basis.
Timing of decision
Within a month the BJP government in Rajasthan restored the general consent to CBI. The timing is important as the state is going to host a three-day national conference of DG/IG where top cops and higher officials of home department will participate. The prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and chief security adviser Ajit Dhobal will also attend the all important conference.
States to have withdrawn general consent to CBI
As many as ten states – all non BJP rules states had withdrawn the general consent to CBI. These included Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Jharkhand, Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Mizoram, Telangana, Meghalaya, and Tamil Nadu.
Now Rajasthan, where BJP government has sworn in has restored the general consent to CBI. Chhattisgarh, where BJP has come back in power will also restore the consent.
Need for a new law
Asserting that withdrawal of general consent by some states has led to severe limitations in the CBI's powers to investigate crucial cases, a parliamentary panel had recently said there was a dire need to enact a new law and give wider powers to the federal agency so that it can probe cases without a “state's consent and interference”.
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