CBI independent, West Bengal government cannot sue Central government over CBI cases: Centre to Supreme Court

The Central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the West Bengal government cannot sue the Central government over cases being lodged and probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the central agency is independent. [State of West Bengal vs Union of India].A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Aravind Kumar began hearing the matter on Thursday..The Court was hearing an original suit filed by the West Bengal government under Article 131 of the Constitution (original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court with respect to Centre-State disputes). The plea referred to the provisions of the 1946 Delhi Special Police Establishment Act and said that the CBI has been proceeding with investigations and filing FIRs without getting a nod from the State government as mandated under the Act.It was further stated that since the general consent given to the CBI by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) led State government has been withdrawn, the FIRs lodged by the CBI cannot be proceeded with..On Thursday (November 9), Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta submitted that the suit by the West Bengal government is liable to be dismissed since there was no cause of action against the Central government and the CBI cannot be made a party to such suits as per Article 131. .He added that the suit ought to be dismissed for concealing facts while arguing that a similar matter is already pending before the top court. "131 is only for disputes between federal units. Third parties cannot be added. 131 is subject to provisions of the Constitution, it does not take away jurisdiction of this court. A similar proceeding is pending in SLP and is suppressed this fact. They have suppressed that the cases were registered in directions of the Calcutta High and one of this Court. This has been completely hidden. The pleadings are mischievous," the SG argued..He also pointed out that neither the Union government nor the Department of Personnel and Training directs or supervises CBI probes."There is no cause of action against Union. Under the Supreme Court Rules, it is ground for dismissal. Order 26 Rule 6. CBI is not under the Centre. No suit against it under 131 [is maintainable] ... You cannot re-litigate by changing nomenclature and suppressing facts for favourable interim orders," he argued..The SG contended that the State government had, therefore, not come to the Supreme Court with clean hands, and was seeking relief against a central agency, which is not permissible in an original suit against the Union government..Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal appeared for the West Bengal government and objected to the Central government's averments.He submitted that the SG should not have used words like 'fraudulent' to describe the suit.He added that the Union government has superintendence over the CBI, and that the main relief sought was that cases should not be registered without the consent of the State government."First with NIA, then PMLA - they try to arrest everyone all over India. It is a complete violation of the basic structure of the Constitution ... I am aggrieved not by court orders but by the jurisdictional issue. So how can you say it is barred?" Sibal argued.The matter will be taken up next on November 23..Background.The present case arose following the results of the State Legislative Assembly elections in West Bengal in May 2021. After the elections, many persons who had to flee their houses due to the violence approached the High Court claiming that they were not being allowed to return home by the workers of the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) party.On May 31, the Calcutta High Court ordered the formation of a three-member committee to ensure that persons displaced by post-poll violence in the State were able to return to their houses.Thereafter, the High Court proceeded to order intervention by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Subsequently, its chairperson Justice Arun Mishra constituted a seven-member committee to inquire into complaints regarding post-poll violence.The committee submitted a report accusing the ruling Trinamool Congress party of turning affairs in the State into the "law of ruler", instead of a "rule of law", and called for a CBI probe in the matter, and for the case to be tried outside the State.The State government strongly contested the NHRC report, questioning the impartiality of the human rights body.The State proceeded to file an original suit against the Central government in the matter, wherein it also questioned the High Court's decision to order a CBI probe in the matter. In September 2021, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Central government on this plea. In response, the Central government told the Supreme Court that orders of a State government to withdraw consent for CBI probes or a sweeping order withdrawing consent in all such cases would amount to an ultra vires exercise of power under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.