Supreme Court: West Bengal challenges Centre with suit against CBI

Supreme Court Deems West Bengal’s Suit Against Centre on CBI Investigations Legally Maintainable. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that the suit filed by the West Bengal government challenging the central government’s directive permitting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct investigations within the state’s jurisdiction is legally maintainable. A bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta stated that the Bengal government’s suit regarding the CBI’s investigation of cases, despite the state’s withdrawal of consent, shall proceed according to the law on its own merits.

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Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Maintainability of Mamata Banerjee Government’s Suit Against CBI Investigation in West Bengal

The Supreme Court had on May 8 reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the suit filed by Mamata Banerjee government. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, had argued that once the state had withdrawn its consent on November 16, 2018, the Centre could not allow the probe agency to enter the state for investigation. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had said that the Union government or its departments do not exercise any supervisory control over CBI investigations.

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The Centre had raised preliminary objections about the maintainability of the lawsuit filed by the West Bengal government, contending that there was no cause of action against the Union of India. The West Bengal government has filed an original suit in the apex court against the Centre under Article 131 of the Constitution, alleging that the CBI has been filing FIRs and proceeding with investigations despite the state having withdrawn the general consent to the federal agency to probe cases within its territorial jurisdiction. Article 131 deals with the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction in a dispute between the Centre and one or more states.

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