A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and B R Gavai held that these provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act are in tune with the federal character of the Constitution.
“We had revoked the order of the general consent given to the CBI to probe cases in the state as the agency was misused for political benefits,” Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh tweeted following the apex court’s order.
Deshmukh on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling that a state government’s consent is mandatory for a CBI investigation in its jurisdiction.
“We welcome the Hon’ble Supreme court’s decision stating that `The CBI needs prior permission from the states to carry any investigation’,” he added.
The Maharashtra government had last month withdrawn its “general consent” given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe cases in the state.
In major setback that question the authority of Modi led BJP government Punjab government became the latest ninth state to revoke general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to carry out any investigation in the state.
Deshmukh had then said that the step was taken to ensure that the Central agency was not misused for political purposes.
The state government withdrew the general consent in the wake of the CBI taking over a case registered by Uttar Pradesh Police against “unknown” channels and persons over alleged fudging of TRP.
Mumbai police were already probing a similar case, and Deshmukh had then said that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra wanted to avoid the possibility of the CBI taking over the case.
