Vijayawada: In an unprecedented move, the Andhra Pradesh government has withdrawn ‘general consent’ given to the CBI, restricting its activities in the state.
In the last few days, AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has been vocal about the controversy surrounding CBI saying the Modi government was misusing agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate and income-tax I-T department to intimidate and harass Opposition parties.
Mr Naidu has alleged that TD leaders and businessmen linked to the ruling party have been subjected to income-tax raids after his NDA pullout. Subsequently, the AP government had decided against providing police cover to I-T officials for conducting raids.
Following the withdrawal of general consent, the CBI is barred from investigating and carrying out raids in the state, including questioning Central government employees working in the state and private individuals residing in AP. It can only do so after securing permission from the state government.
CBI officers have to take prior permission from the AP government to operate in the state.
The general consent is given to the CBI to investigate into crimes and conspiracies covering around 187 Sections of the IPC and 63 Central Acts.
The CBI was constituted under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946. State governments periodically issue notifications giving general consent for the CBI to conduct its operations in the state. Such a notification was last issued by the AP government on September 3.
On November 8, the state government issued a ‘confidential’ GO, which came to light on Friday, withdrawing the general consent. Government sources said the GO was issued after a Vijayawada-based advocate, Mr Y. Ved Vyas, wrote to the Chief Secretary urging the government to withdraw general consent, pointing to the recent happenings in the CBI which had dented the image of the agency.
“The government decided to withdraw general consent in the wake of recent happenings in CBI and the controversies surrounding the investigating agency. Certain states like Karnataka have been following the same method of asking the CBI to take prior permission before conducting raids or any other activity. We are going to face the Centre on the issue,” said state home minister, Nimmakayala Chinarajappa.
“The image of the CBI has been dented with the top officials being booked in cases against the each other. The Union government too has been misusing agencies like CBI and ED for political gains. In this background I wrote a letter to the state chief secretary. As per section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment, a state government can take such an action,” said the advocate.
