Government of Punjab has withdrawn the general consent granted to the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment i.e. CBI.
It has revoked all prior consents given to the establishment and now made prior consent of Government mandatory. Permission will be required on case-to-case basis before investigating in any case or offence or class of offence u/s-3 of Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 established by Delhi Police.
Jharkhand became the first to withdraw the consent whereas Kerala too withdrew their consent. CBI is a central agency that requires consent from the states to probe cases there. Now around seven states have made it mandatory too seek prior permission from state government for specific cases or offences.
According to the CBI laws the CBI is a central body governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSEA). The said law makes it a special special wing of Delhi Police and so its original jurisdiction is limited to Delhi. Few days back Calcutta High Court order expanded CBI’s jurisdiction to investigate the central government employees in West Bengal without seeking prior specific permission of the state government, but for other matters it still need consent of the State Government unlike other central agencies like – the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which enjoys an all-India jurisdiction by the laws.
