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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the suit moved by the West Bengal government accusing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of unauthorisedly registering cases in the state despite the latter withdrawing general consent in November 2018 is maintainable.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said the detailed hearing on West Bengal’s suit will be taken up later on merits.The court posted the final hearing of the suit on August 13 when issues for adjudication will be framed after hearing Bengal government and Union government.
SC said it is a serious issue and has wider ramification in a federal structure.
The apex court had on May 8 reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the suit filed by the state.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, had argued that once the state had withdrawn its consent on November 16, 2018, the Centre could not allow the probe agency to enter the state for investigation.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 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probes.
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Constitution, alleging that the CBI has been filing FIRs and proceeding with investigations despite the state having withdrawn the general consent to the federal agency to probe cases within its territorial jurisdiction.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.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said the detailed hearing on West Bengal’s suit will be taken up later on merits.The court posted the final hearing of the suit on August 13 when issues for adjudication will be framed after hearing Bengal government and Union government.
SC said it is a serious issue and has wider ramification in a federal structure.
The apex court had on May 8 reserved its verdict on the maintainability of the suit filed by the state.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal, had argued that once the state had withdrawn its consent on November 16, 2018, the Centre could not allow the probe agency to enter the state for investigation.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 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probes.
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.
