New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will not allow either the Center or the West Bengal government to raise any political issue during the arguments on the state's case alleging that the CBI is continuing with its investigations , despite the withdrawal of general consent by the state.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said it was only a legal issue and the court will not allow either side to make political arguments.
The bench reserved judgment on the maintainability of the suit filed by the state government.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, submitted that once the state withdrew its consent on November 16, 2018, the Center cannot allow the probe agency to enter the state for investigation.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said the Union government or its departments do not exercise any supervisory control over CBI investigations.
Mr. Mehta said that when he made his comments on the case on May 2, he never addressed the political part of it.
“We are only talking about a technical issue, why should we focus on the political part,” the bench said.
The top law official said this was a legal case and the arguments cannot go beyond the pleadings.
He said that while discussing the matter on May 2, Mr. Sibal had said that once the CBI goes into a state, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also comes in.
Mr Mehta said ED is talking about 'counting cash' recovered during investigation.
“We are only deciding on a legal issue,” the bench noted, adding, “We will not allow any of the parties to raise any political issue.”
During the arguments, Mr. Sibal referred to the provisions of the Delhi Police Special Establishment (DPSE) Act, 1946 and said, “We (State) have informed your Lordships of the cause of action. You cannot enter my State without my permission. and you cannot do it suo motu (on your own).”
He said permission must be obtained from the state government for the exercise of power by the CBI.
“Once I withdraw my consent, the Union cannot allow its investigation agency to come to my country without my consent,” Mr Sibal argued.
He said that granting permission was a privilege and that the power to grant that privilege rested with the state.
In his rejoinder, Mr. Mehta said there is no need to take action against the Center in this case.
“The DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) never registers a case,” he said, adding, “The DoPT cannot do the registration of an FIR directly. Also, no other department of the central government can monitor the investigation.”
He said it was “devastating” to say that the CBI is a Union police force.
Mr Mehta said the Union has no power to direct the CBI to register an FIR for a particular offence.
During arguments last week, the Center had told the top court that the CBI was not under the “control” of the Union and the government cannot monitor the agency's registration of an offense or its investigation.
The Centre's submission assumes significance as the Opposition parties accuse the government of misusing central investigating agencies like the CBI and the ED to target its rivals.
The Center has raised preliminary objections over the feasibility of the lawsuit filed by the West Bengal government, saying there is no need to take action against the Union of India.
The West Bengal government has filed an original case under Article 131 of the Constitution in the Supreme Court against the Center alleging that the CBI has filed FIRs and continued investigation despite the state granting blanket consent to the federal agency to investigate cases has been withdrawn. within its territorial jurisdiction.
Article 131 deals with the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in a dispute between the Center and one or more states.
On November 16, 2018, the West Bengal government withdrew the “blanket permission” granted to the CBI to conduct investigation or conduct raids in the state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)