New Delhi: The Telangana Government has withdrawn general consent earlier given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the state.This was informed by the Additional Advocate General (AAG) to the Telangana high court during arguments on a petition filed by the BJP seeking a CBI probe into the Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA-poaching case.Three persons, who allegedly tried to “poach” four TRS legislators, were arrested and remanded to judicial custody on Saturday, October 29.

“The government’s Home (Special) Department had issued an order-G.O.Ms.No.51 on August 30 withdrawing all previous general consents issued by it under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946,” the AAG informed the court.

In states where general consent has not been accorded or where general consent does not cover a particular case, the CBI is required to secure specific consent of the state government under Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946.Only when the consent of the state government is received can CBI’s jurisdiction be extended under provisions of Section 5 of the DSPE Act.

The Supreme Court and high courts entrust matters for investigation or enquiry to CBI and in such cases, there is no requirement for any notification conveying consent under section 5 or 6 of the DSPE Act.

“…[T]he learned Additional Advocate General submitted that the petitioner does not have locus standi to file this writ petition. G.O.Ms.No.51, Home (Special) Department, dated 30.08.2022 was issued by the Government of Telangana withdrawing all previous general consents issued by the State Government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946,” the high court said in its order.The development comes after the BJP and TRS have indulged in a war of words over several issues in recent past that has led to acrimony between the two parties.

Since the BJP came to power in the Union government in 2014, nine states have withdrawn general consent to the CBI. Recently, Maharashtra, now under a new government supported by BJP, restored consent. The Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh also eventually restored consent after coming to power. Earlier, the Chandrababu Naidu government had withdrawn it.The states where consent is not yet restored are Mizoram, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala and Jharkhand.

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