• By Mayukh Debnath
  • Wed, 10 Jul 2024 11:14 AM (IST)
  • Source:ANI

Bengal Vs Centre: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held maintainable the lawsuit filed by the West Bengal government against the Centre over the Central Bureau of Investigation's conduct of probes into cases in the state without its statutorily mandated prior consent. The top court has listed the framing of issues on August 13.  

A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta ruled that the state government's should proceed before it in accordance with the law. In doing so, the court rejected the preliminary objections raised by the NDA-led union government on the maintainability of the suit.

"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 (Delhi Special Police Establishment Act) act," the bench was quoted as saying by Live Law.

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CBI 'Misuse' Suit: What's The Case All About?

The suit against the Centre was filed under Article 131 of the Constitution, with the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government alleging that the CBI has been registering cases and proceeding with investigation despite the state having withdrawn the general consent required by the central agency to probe cases within its territorial jurisdiction.

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Article 131 empowers a state to move the SC directly in case of a dispute with the Centre or any other State. On November 16, 2018, the West Bengal government withdrew the "general consent" accorded to the CBI to conduct probe and raids in the state.

(With inputs from agencies)