After Kerala, Jharkhand government revokes general consent for CBI investigations in the State

The Jharkhand government has withdrawn the general consent accorded to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct investigations within the State..An order to this effect was issued on November 5, which states,."In exercise of the powers conferred by section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment DSPE Act, 1946 (25 of 1946) the Government of Jharkhand hereby withdraws the consent accorded to the members of the Delhi Special Police Establishment vide Govt. order Memo no 3/Vividh-6019/96 Dated 19.02.1996 as also by any other instruments issued by the Government of Jharkhand, from time to time, to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the State of Jharkhand.".With this decision, Jharkhand has joined Kerala and other non-BJP ruled States to bar the central agency from exercising its jurisdiction in the concerned State. .Last month, the Maharashtra Government had revoked its consent for CBI investigations, soon after Uttar Pradesh Government handed over the TRP scam case probe to the CBI at a time when the Mumbai Police was also probing an FIR in the matter.Prior to that, the Government of Rajasthan had withdrawn its general consent in July this year. The West Bengal and Chhattisgarh Governments had revoked such consent earlier in 2018 and 2019 respectively..Whereas the Andhra Pradesh Government under the TDP regime had withdrawn the general consent for the CBI in 2018, the next Government helmed by YSRCP's YS Jaganmohan Reddy restored the consent last year..Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, under which the CBI has been constituted, provides that a member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment cannot exercise powers and jurisdiction under the Act in any area in a State without the consent of the government of that State..Section 6 of the DSPE Act requires the consent of the State government for the CBI to exercise jurisdiction and to investigate the offences enumerated under Section 3 of the Act in the areas specified by the Government of India by a notification under Section 5 of the Act.