State's green light required before CBI probe in any state: Supreme Court

New delhi date. 19 November 2020, Thursday

The apex court had ruled that permission of the state government was required to hand over the investigation of any case to the CBI. The Supreme Court on Thursday morning said in no uncertain terms that the constitutional provision suits the federal character. No case can be investigated by the CBI without the consent of the state government.

There has been a lot of controversy over this issue recently. In particular, while the Mumbai police was investigating the case of the untimely death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, the Maharashtra state government had opposed handing over the case to the CBI, saying the Mumbai police investigation was in the right direction.

The state government had withdrawn its permission to allow the CBI to investigate any case in Maharashtra when the CBI probe also turned out to be similar to the Mumbai police investigation. However, the order did not apply to cases already being investigated by the CBI.

Judgment of the Supreme
Following Maharashtra, one or two other states also withdrew their permission to the CBI. The apex court had clearly stated that the rule was applicable under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. The CBI is required to seek the consent and permission of the concerned state government before initiating an investigation into any case.