The move by the Tamil Nadu Government came hours after the ED arrested Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case.
Published Jun 15, 2023 | 10:16 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 15, 2023 | 10:16 AM
On Wednesday, the Tamil Nadu government withdrew the general consent given to the CBI, hours after Senthil Balaji's arrest. (Creative Commons)
The Tamil Nadu government has withdrawn the general consent for the CBI to carry out investigations in the state.
The consent was withdrawn hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Tamil Nadu Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V Senthil Balaji in a money laundering case on Wednesday, 14 June.
Mizoram, West Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Telangana have already withdrawn general consent for CBI probes, besides Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Meghalaya.
Tamil Nadu withdrew consent even as Opposition parties were accusing the Union government of using central agencies to silence its political rivals.
The Home Department stated that according to a specific provision of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Central Act XXV of 1946) the CBI has to secure prior permission from the state government before conducting any probe.
“The Tamil Nadu government has today issued orders withdrawing the general consent given to certain types of cases in 1989 and 1992 under the aforesaid rule. Accordingly, the CBI has to henceforth get the Tamil Nadu government’s prior approval for conducting investigation in the state,” it said in a statement.
Earlier, the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act allowed the CBI to launch a probe without the explicit permission of the state. The provision, by default, made the premier probe agency an extension of the Delhi Police, controlled by the Union Home Ministry.
With Tamil Nadu withdrawing the general consent, the CBI cannot file a First Information Report (FIR) on its own in cases related to the state.
However, appellate courts, including the Supreme Court and the high court, can order a CBI probe without the state’s consent. The withdrawal of consent would not affect the investigation in cases the CBI had already registered.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chief Minister MK Stalin said that the DMK would not be intimidated by the BJP’s threats and that the people would teach the saffron party a lesson in the 2024 elections.
Taking a dig at the chief minister, BJP state president K Annamalai said that Stalin was fearing that he would be the next in the line for a CBI probe.
Annamalai, a former IPS officer, said there were complaints against Stalin that he had received kickbacks to the tune of ₹200 crore for favouring a Chennai metro rail contract during the DMK’s previous rule.
In April, @BJP4TamilNadu levelled a charge that TN CM Thiru @mkstalin had received a kickback of 200 Crore Rupees for favouring a metro contract during the previous DMK regime.
It seems like TN CM is afraid that CBI will knock at his door soon and has today taken an…
— K.Annamalai (மோடியின் குடும்பம்) (@annamalai_k) June 14, 2023
“It seems like TN CM is afraid that CBI will knock at his door soon and has today taken an extraordinary measure in the curtailing entry of CBI in TN without the permission of the State Government,” Annamalai tweeted.
