After Maharashtra, Kerala Blocks CBI In State, Withdraws General Consent To Probe Cases

The Pinarayi Vijayan led government in the state, issued the order to withdraw the general consent on Wednesday.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. (File Photo/ Getty)

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Wednesday joined the group of non-Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states in withdrawing the general consent which will prevent the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases with prior permission. The Pinarayi Vijayan-led government in the state, issued the order to withdraw the general consent on Wednesday. The move implies that the CBI will not have general consent to exercise its powers and jurisdiction in the state and will have to get the state government’s permission to probe any matter. According to sources from Kerala’s Chief Minister’s Office, the state government has been unhappy with CBI intervention in the Life Mission Housing project an initiative of the Kerala government to provide shelter and housing to the homeless. After the probe into the matter started, the project was stalled temporarily following which the government approached the high court. The high court later stayed the probe by the central investigating agency. With this, Kerala has joined the list of non-BJP-ruled states West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra in withdrawing general consent to CBI. In October, the Maharashtra government issued an order withdrawing consent accorded to the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under an act in the state. The move implied that the CBI will not have general consent, accorded by the Maharashtra government by an order on February 22, 1989, to exercise its powers and jurisdiction in the state and will have to get the state governments permission to probe any matter. The governments of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh recently withdrew the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The consent is akin to a blanket nod for the agency to probe scheduled offenses specified in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSE) Act, 1946. Other than West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Kerala the agency also lacks a "general consent" from Mizoram. Unlike the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has countrywide jurisdiction to take over any case related to terrorism, the CBI requires the consent of the state government concerned under Section 6 of the DPSE Act, the law that governs the agency's functioning.