Center preparing to enact a new law for CBI, which will eliminate the need for approval from states

Presently CBI is working under Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946.

The central government is preparing to make a separate law with the aim of giving a national shape to the role and functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Union Ministry of Personnel will work in close coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard. With the enactment of a separate law, the need for the CBI to take consent from the state governments will end.

Till now CBI is working under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946. After deliberating on the limitations of this law, the Standing Committee of Parliament has recommended that a separate law be made for the CBI.

The committee noted that the existing law limited the scope of the agency. The new law should be such that the status, functions, powers of the CBI are fixed and there are provisions to ensure impartiality and credibility. This recommendation became a solid basis for the central government to move forward on this issue.

This picture is from March 27, when the opposition parties protested outside Parliament wearing black clothes and raising slogans about ED-CBI.

After the order of the court, the approval of the state government is not required.
Sources said the new law would be of a federal level. So far, there is no need for the consent of the state governments if there are directions from constitutional courts like the Supreme Court or the High Court. In cases other than this, the Central Government has to increase the scope of CBI’s investigation and the investigating agency registers the case after taking permission from the State Government.

State governments have made provisions for giving consent according to their own, which is called general consent. Some state governments have made arrangements for specific permission instead of such general consent. In such a case, approval from the state government is required in every case.

At present, the scope of CBI’s investigation is limited only to the union territory or railway area. In such a situation, permission has to be taken from the state government to register a case or to take any case in its hands.

Hence the need: 9 states have withdrawn the general consent
In the last 7 years, 9 State Governments have withdrawn General Consent from CBI. It is no coincidence that most of these are states where the ruling BJP is not in power at the Centre.

when the state agreed

The Center recently informed the Parliament that the conviction rate in CBI probe cases has increased from 68% in 2018 to 74.5% in 2022. Means an increase of about 7% in 5 years.

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