Kerala, another non-BJP ruled state, on Wednesday decided to revoke general consent for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the state. In the future, CBI has to seek prior permission from the Kerala Government for registering any case within the state. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting here, sources said.
Earlier on Monday, after the Central investigative agencies started an investigation into gold smuggling, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for the first time hit hard against the probe agencies alleging that they were acting beyond their jurisdiction causing a threat to the federal system of governance.
Earlier on October 21, the Maharashtra government withdrew its consent to the CBI to probe cases in the state. Three non-BJP-ruled states – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal – had already withdrawn their general consent to let the CBI probe cases in their jurisdiction. The CBI is probing corruption and kickback in the Life Mission project in Kerala, one of the flagship projects of the Left government to provide free housing for the poor.
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The general consent extended to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe cases in Maharashtra was withdrawn to prevent the misuse of the agency for political benefits, State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had said.
“The CBI holds investigation in a very professional manner, but the pressure built on the organisation to seek political benefits is not right, therefore, we took this decision to withdraw the general consent,” Deshmukh said in a press conference here.
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