KOLKATA: The Bengal government’s notification withdrawing “general consent” to CBI to investigate cases within the state’s boundaries will now require the central agency to seek the state’s “special consent” for each and every case or move court to break the logjam.The complicated procedure that will have to be followed is this: the state will have to give its special consent for transfer of the case to CBI (under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment ( DSPE ) Act, following which the Centre will extend the powers to CBI (under Section 5 of the Act) to investigate the specific offence. Needless to say the procedure will delay the process of investigation.On the flip side, most of the grave offences mentioned under Section 3 of the DSPE Act — cases related to terrorism, prevention of unlawful activities, infiltration, smuggling of illegal currency — are now being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) that doesn’t require the state’s consent to conduct a probe.But the state’s notification will definitely impact probe into economic offences by central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate. On paper, the ED wouldn’t need any consent to carry out its probe, but in reality, its probe will get delayed because the ED doesn’t have the power to lodge an FIR. It has to depend on the CBI or the state government to do so. It will also impact probe into offences against wildlife protection.The state government’s move will not impact the ongoing CBI probe into Ponzi scams and the Narada exposé because these are court-ordained investigations, legal experts said.The state notification won’t come in the way of CBI starting new cases against Ponzi firms even after the state government has registered its cases.“Going by the Supreme Court’s order we can even register cases against Ponzi firms against whom the state has registered cases before May 9, 2014,” a CBI official said.So far, CBI didn’t have to seek any prior permission from the state government to register a case within its jurisdiction. “This included cases against any central government employee and offences under Section 3 of the DSPE Act. In other cases, for example those under IPC Section 302, CBI never had any jurisdiction unless ordered by a court or consent is given by the state government under Section VI of the DSPE Act,” said a CBI official. “We are waiting for the details of the state notification. We also have to see what kind of permission they will provide in future. If that is given on a case-to-case basis then we have to seek permission for different cases under the same section,” said the official.According to CBI sources, Section 6 of the DSPE act specifies the jurisdiction of the central investigating agency and the state.

Stay updated with all the Kolkata Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.