S. 188 CrPC | CBI Requires Only Centre's Nod To Probe Crimes Abroad Committed By Indians, State's Consent Not Needed: Allahabad HC

A bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal noted that, as per Section 6 of the DSPE Act, the consent of the State Government is required for investigation in any area of the State Government. Still, if the investigation is to be conducted for an offence committed outside India by an Indian citizen, then there is no requirement to seek the consent of the State Government.

In this regard, the Court also referred to a May 2016 notification issued by the Union Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievance and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training) designating CBI as the Nodal Agency to deal with and obtain sanction for prosecution from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Therefore, the Division bench further concluded that if any offence is committed outside India, only the CBI can investigate, and the State Government has no role in such cases.

To hold thus, the Court also relied upon the mandate of Section 188 CrPC, which provides that if any offence is committed by a citizen of India outside India, then the investigation can be conducted or tried in India after getting a previous sanction from the Central Government.

The Court made these observations while dealing with a Criminal Writ plea filed by one Kalpana Maheshwari seeking a CBI probe into the death of her daughter in the United States of America (USA).

Essentially, the petitioner's daughter/victim (Anshu Maheshwari) was married to one Sumit Binani in November 2020. After their marriage, they shifted to the USA, where the victim died in a blast in a house in Seattle, USA.

When the petitioner came to know about the same, she lodged an FIR (on September 28, 2023) at a Police Station in District Meerut, UP, making allegations of dowry death against the accused, Sumit Binani.

On October 15, 2023, the office of the Senior Superintendent of Police, Meerut, submitted a report to the Inspector General of Police, Meerut Zone, Meerut, recommending a CBI investigation into the case. The UP police authorities then referred the matter to the CBI.

However, when the CBI took no action to investigate the death of the daughter of the petitioner, the petitioner approached the High Court.

Before the High Court, the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India argued that under Section 188 CrPC, the consent of the State Government is a pre-requisite to entrusting any case to the CBI for investigation.

It was further mentioned that after receiving the consent from the State Government as required under Section 6 of the DSPE Act, the CBI, being the nodal agency, would get sanction from the DoPT, and only then can the CBI conduct an investigation into this matter.

Though the Court rejected the contention that the State Government's consent is required in such cases, the division bench noted that the State Government has already conveyed its consent to conduct an investigation in the present case.

Hence, it directed the CBI and respondent no. 3- Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, to investigate the death of the daughter of the petitioner (first informant) by completing necessary formalities within a period of 15 days from the date of production of a certified copy of the HC's order.

Appearances

For Petitioner: Senior Counsel Anoop Trivedi, assisted by Advocates JK Pandey and Nimisha Jain

For State: AGA Ratan Singh

For CBI: Senior Counsel Gyan Prakash, assisted by Advocate Sanjay Kumar Yadav

For UOI: Advocate Manu Vardhana

Case title - Kalpana Maheshwari vs. State of U.P. and Another

Case citation:

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