Maharashtra: General consent restored, CBI can probe ₹20,312-cr bank fraud cases

It has been a week since the Eknath Shinde-led government in Maharashtra restored “general consent” to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), reversing yet another decision of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) regime led by Uddhav Thackeray. It means that now, the CBI can once again investigate cases in Maharashtra without getting the state government’s nod each time.

Uddhav-led Maharashtra was not the only state to withdraw general consent. Eight other states, including Mizoram, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Meghalaya, have done so. At least 173 CBI requests for probe are pending with these nine states, including Maharashtra, which tops the list. It has 132 such requests pending since October 2020, according to data shared by the Centre in the Rajya Sabha.

Of these 173 pending requests, 128 are related to bank frauds worth ₹21,074 crore. Maharashtra itself has 101 bank fraud requests pending, with the involvement of funds worth ₹20,312 crore. Replying to a question by BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Jitendra Singh, shared these details.

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Interestingly, Maharashtra also permitted the CBI to investigate 52 such requested cases, the highest among the nine states with a total of 101 approvals. Next was Punjab, which gave permission to the CBI in 27 cases.

What is ‘general consent’?

The Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, governs the CBI. Therefore, the agency must obtain the state government’s consent before investigating a crime within its boundaries.

This consent granted to the CBI by a state can be general or case-specific. The idea is to help the CBI seamlessly investigate corruption cases against central government employees in the state. In the absence of this consent by default, the CBI must apply to the state government in every case and seek permission before taking even small actions.

However, the absence of consent does not affect CBI investigations ordered by courts.

Why did Maharashtra withdraw general consent?

In October 2020, the then Uddhav government signed the home department’s proposal to withdraw general consent to the CBI to investigate the cases in the state. Anil Deshmukh was the state’s home minister at that time.

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The decision was taken at a time when the CBI was probing several cases in Maharashtra, including the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput and the fake TRP scam. The MVA government had repeatedly accused the Centre of misusing central agencies against the Opposition parties.

In fact, most of the states that withdrew the general consent for CBI probes primarily alleged that the Centre was using the agency to target political opponents.

What now for Maharashtra?

The CBI can now begin a probe into 12 high-profile bank fraud cases in Maharashtra worth ₹13,048 crore. These cases include a ₹1,987 crore bank loan default by Jet Airways Ltd and its former promoters Naresh Goyal and Anita Goyal. The State Bank of India (SBI) filed a complaint with CBI against Jet Airways in November 2021, according to agency officials.

CBI consent was not the only decision to be reversed in Maharashtra. Since coming to power, the Shinde government has reversed several decisions of the previous MVA government. Incidentally, the previous government had done the same, reversing several decisions of the 2014-19 BJP-Shiv Sena government. The Shinde government has now brought back four such policy decisions taken by the 2014-2019 regime subsequently scrapped by the MVA government.

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These decisions include restoring the voting rights of farmers to Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets, restarting pension for the people jailed during the Emergency, and electing village heads and municipal council presidents directly from the people.

Also, the Uddhav government had restricted the powers of Governor BS Koshyari to appoint vice-chancellors of public universities by introducing a Bill to amend the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016. The Shinde government has now decided to withdraw that Bill.