NEW DELHI, June 14: As a fallout of the arrest by the Enforcement Directorate of the excise minister V Senthil Balaji on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) joining the ranks of several other on-BJP ruled states which have barred CBI entry without permission.
The CBI will now have to take the state government’s permission to undertake investigation in the state and against its residents. The DMK government’s move came hours after the arrest of Balaji in a money laundering case.
The government had taken strong offence to the Enforcement Directorate’s move to search the home and office of the arrested minister. Chief Minister MK Stalin had called it “an assault on federalism.”
Already nine states — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and West Bengal – have banned CBI’s entry in their respective states without permission which they called a precaution against the misuse of Central agencies.
Though the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946 makes prior permission of the state mandatory, in 1989 and 1992 some exceptions were made for few categories of cases. This has been revoked. However the state government’s move will not impact investigations by the Enforcement Directorate, including the on-going Balaji case, or the National Investigation Agency.
(Manas Dasgupta)