Maharashtra Government Withdraws ‘General Consent’ On CBI Cases

WHAT WAS THE ORDER ISSUED BY MAHARASHTRA GOVERNMENT?

• On order revoking permission given to the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and authority under a State Act, the government of Maharashtra published.
• According to reports, the move means that the Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) will not have general approval to exercise its powers and authority in the State, given by the Maharashtra government by an order on February 22, 1989, and will have to seek permission from the state governments to investigate any matter.

WHAT IS THE BACKGROUND?

• Earlier this year, Mumbai Police have been probing the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. The inquiry into the matter, however, was later handed over to the CBI based on an FIR filed in Patna by the actor's father. "The Government of Maharashtra hereby withdraws the consent given to the representatives of the Delhi Special Police Establishment in the exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (25 of 1946)," the order read.
• By an order of the Home Department dated February 22, 1989, and by any other instruments issued from time to time by the State Government, it reads, permission was granted to exercise the powers and authority under the said Act in Maharashtra.
• According to reports, if the CBI decides to investigate any matter, it would have to contact the state government for its permission.
• "Although the general approval has been revoked, the government will decide on a case-by-case basis to give permission," they added.

HOW IS SPECIAL POLICE ACT RELATED?

• A notice released by the State Home Department on Wednesday stated that in exercising the powers bestowed by section 6 of the 1946 Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, the Maharashtra government hereby withdraws the consent given to the representatives of the through Government Order of the Delhi Special Police Establishment dated 22 February 1989.
• The CBI is regulated by the Special Police Institution Act of Delhi that makes it necessary for a state government to agree to investigate that state.
• Although the CBI has authority only over departments and employees of the central government, a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a state can be prosecuted only after consent is given by the government concerned.