Jharkhand Govt. Withdraws 'General Consent' Granted To CBI To Investigate Cases In The State [Read Order]

"In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment DSPE Act, 1946 (25 of 1946), the Government of Jharkhand hereby withdraws the consent accorded to the members of Delhi Special Police Establishment vide Govt. Order Memo No. 3/Vividh-6019/96 dated 19.02.1996 as also by any other instruments issued by the Government of Jharkhand, from time to time, to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the state of Jharkhand."

It may be noted that Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act provides that a member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment cannot exercise powers and jurisdiction under the Act in any area in a State without the consent of the Government of that State.

In the year 1996, the State of Jharkhand had issued a notification giving permission for the CBI to probe any case in the State.

This move of Jharkhand Government has come a day after Kerala also withdrew the privilege. Yesterday, i.e., on Wednesday (04^th November) the Kerala Government had withdrawn the 'general consent' granted to the CBI [Delhi Special Police Establishment] to investigate cases in the state.

Notably, the Kerala Government had recently objected to the CBI investigation against the Chief Executive Officer of the LIFE Mission, which handles the Kerala Government's free home project for the homeless. The High Court of Kerala later stayed for two months the CBI investigation against the Chief Executive Officer.

Last month, the Government of Maharashtra had withdrawn the 'general consent'. In July, this year, the Rajasthan Government had withdrawn its general consent accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal governments had withdrawn their "general consent" in 2018 itself.

Also, in the year 2019, the State of Chhattisgarh withdrew general consent accorded to the CBI to probe cases in the state.