In the post-poll violence case, the Center says that the CBI is an autonomous body which is not under the control of the Central Government.
The Center told the Supreme Court that Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal has no “absolute” power to bar the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from investigating crimes inside the state.
The Center said that “no power, not even the central government” has the authority to rattle off the autonomy of the principal agency to investigate, especially the cases of post-poll violence by the Calcutta High Court. In which the state police is under a cloud.
The Central Government was responding through the Department of Personnel and Training A suit filed by the Government of West Bengal Against the Union of India under Article 131 of the Constitution. The state has challenged the jurisdiction of the CBI to register and investigate FIRs in the state in innumerable cases. West Bengal said it had withdrawn “general consent” from the CBI in 2018. The state said the CBI action was a direct attack on the federal structure of governance and was aimed at harassing the leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.
The matter came up for hearing on Friday before a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai. The bench said the arguments in the matter needed to be heard in detail, and posted it for hearing on November 16.
“The suit is filed on the ground that the power to withhold consent is absolute. It certainly cannot be like this…” the Center said.
In its affidavit, the Center alleged that West Bengal’s power to withdraw consent to CBI was far from absolute, later accusing the apex court of “suppressing” information that cases of post-poll violence should be referred to the agency. was transferred. Calcutta HC
It said withdrawal of general consent would not come in the way of constitutional courts handing over such cases to the CBI, “where it is found that the state police will not conduct an effectively fair and impartial investigation”.
apart from this CBI was empowered To inquire into matters relating to any central subject mentioned in the Union List in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. The affidavit stated that the alleged offenses under investigation were offenses under parliamentary laws.
The Center argued, “All these will be addressed by laws made by Parliament… The state government will not have the capacity to use its police force to investigate these offences.”
The union affidavit mentions 12 cases highlighted by the state. It said that these cases also pertain to offenses of corruption against Central Government employees etc.
“There are a number of investigations which are being conducted against the employees of the Central Government or for the purpose of investigating such offenses having pan-India effect or effect on more than one State. It is always desirable and in the larger interest of justice that a central agency investigates in such cases,” the Center said.
It questioned why West Bengal had made the “Union of India” the sole party in the trial before the Supreme Court. The 61-page affidavit said, “The Union of India has not registered any case in the State of West Bengal nor is it investigating any matter.”
The Center said West Bengal has “oddly not made the CBI a party to the trial”. Lawsuits under Article 131 are specifically filed in the Supreme Court in respect of disputes between states or between the center and the state.
The Center said that since the Union of India has nothing to do with the matter and since the CBI is an autonomous body not under the control of the Central Government, the trial was wrong and should be dismissed.
The apex court had issued notices in the trial in early September. The state government in its petition has sought a stay on the investigation in the FIR registered by the CBI.
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