SC Finds Bengal Govt's Suit Against CBI's Cases Maintainable

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that the West Bengal government's suit against the fact that the Central Bureau of Investigation has been registering cases in the state despite the former having revoked general consent is maintainable.

In a significant development, an apex court bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Sandeep Mehta rejected the preliminary objections raised by the Union government.

Bengal withdrew general consent to the CBI in November 2016. The Mamata Banerjee government, at loggerheads with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government had thus barred the CBI from entering the state to conduct investigations. Bengal was represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal.

LiveLaw has reported that the Union government attempted to establish that the Bengal government had suppressed facts in its complaint and that there was no cause of action against the Union government. The news agency PTI reported that Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, claimed that the Centre did not exercise any supervisory control over CBI investigations.

Bengal had filed the suit under Article 131 of the constitution, which allows the apex court to settle disputes between the centre and the states.

"We find the present suit is raising a legal issue whether after the withdrawal of the general consent, the CBI can continue to register FIRs and investigate cases in violation of section 6 of DSPE act...," the bench stated while orally reading out the operative portion, according to LiveLaw.

The court will hear the matter for the framing of issues on August 13.

It had, on May 8, reserved this verdict on the suit's maintainability.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.