Karnataka govt withdraws general consent to CBI
Bengaluru: Amid the MUDA land allotment row, the Karnataka government withdrew the general consent given to the CBI on Thursday to investigate cases in the state, alleging that the agency was “biased.” Announcing the decision after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said: “It is clear that the CBI or the Central government, while using their instrumentalities, are not using them judiciously.”
The move comes amid demands by the opposition BJP to hand over the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case to the CBI.
Reiterating that he will not resign, Siddaramaiah on Thursday again denied any wrongdoing in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife by the MUDA and termed the charges against him a “BJP conspiracy.”
Patil rejected suggestions that there was any connection between revoking the CBI’s permission to operate in the state and the allegations of illegalities in MUDA’s allotment of 14 sites to Siddaramaiah’s wife.
“The notification granting general consent for the CBI to probe criminal cases in Karnataka, under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, has been withdrawn,” Patil told journalists.
He added that permission will be given on a case-by-case basis for the CBI to conduct investigations in the state.
According to Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) needs consent from the respective state governments to conduct investigations within their jurisdiction. He said: “We have seen that the CBI works with prejudice... their conduct has led us to this decision... they are biased, hence we have made this decision.”
Karnataka is the latest state to join the list of non-BJP-ruled states that have withdrawn general consent to the CBI. Other states include West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.The Karnataka government’s decision came a day after a Special Court here on Wednesday ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Siddaramaiah in the MUDA case, setting the stage for registering an FIR against him. Even in the cases that the state government had given to the CBI or the agency had taken up, chargesheets were not filed in several of them, Patil said. “They (CBI) refused to file chargesheets; they refused to probe an umpteen number of mining cases,” he said.
On Wednesday, state BJP President B Y Vijayendra said: “The Court might have asked the Lokayukta police to probe, but we urge the CM — before he resigns — to order that the investigation be handed over to an independent agency, the CBI, for a free and impartial probe.”
