Centre states to the Apex Court that West Bengal’s power to withhold consent to CBI is not outright

The Central Government recently kept its point in front of the the Supreme Court mentioning that the TMC government in West Bengal does not have any “absolute” power to keep the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from investigating crimes inside the state of West Bengal. It further added that "no power, not even the Union government”, has the authority to rattle, veer or hinder the autonomy of the agency to conduct investigations. This comes after the cases of post-poll violence transferred which was transferred to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.

The West Bengal government has challenged the CBI’s jurisdiction to lodge FIRs and conduct investigations inside the State. The Central Government believes this is bizarre as no one holds authority to stop CBI's indulgence where it deems fit. Mamta Banarjee's government stated that it had withdrawn “general consent” to the CBI way back in 2018. According to the state, the actions of the CBI were a direct attack on the federal structure.