Supreme Court rules West Bengal’s suit against Centre challenging CBI probes in state is ‘maintainable’

PTC News Desk: The West Bengal administration filed a lawsuit on Wednesday, challenging the national government’s order permitting the national Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to carry out investigations within the state’s borders. The Supreme Court ruled that the lawsuit was legally viable. A bench consisting of Justices BR Gavai and Sandeep Mehta declared that the Bengal government’s lawsuit against the CBI for investigating cases in defiance of the state’s withdrawal of consent would be heard according to the law on its own merits.

On August 13, the state’s highest court posted the West Bengal government’s lawsuit against the CBI investigation for issue framing.

In spite of the state rescinding its general agreement for the central agency to conduct an investigation in 2018, the Bengali government had petitioned the Supreme Court against the CBI for filing cases.

On May 8, the Supreme Court postponed making a decision regarding the suit brought by the government of Mamata Banerjee. In his representation of West Bengal, senior attorney Kapil Sibal contended that the Centre was unable to permit the investigative agency to enter the state for an investigation after the state withdrew its approval on November 16, 2018.

In judicial appearance on behalf of the Center, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that the Union government and its agencies had no supervisory authority over CBI investigations.

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The West Bengal government filed a lawsuit, but the Center objected, claiming there was no basis for a case against the Union of India and questioning the litigation’s maintainability.

Under Article 131 of the Constitution, the West Bengal government has initiated an original lawsuit against the Center in the Supreme Court. The lawsuit claims that the CBI has been registering First Information Reports (FIRs) and carrying out investigations even though the state has revoked the federal agency’s general authorisation to investigate cases within its borders.

Article 131 addresses the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in cases involving the Center and one or more states.

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