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Kerala State Government decided to withdraw the general consent granted to the CBI to probe cases.
Kerala joined list of non-BJP ruled states including Maharashtra which have affected a similar move.
Kerala became fifth state after Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to withdraw the general consent granted to the CBI to exercise its probe powers under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, “We have decided to withdraw the general consent given to the CBI, through the notifications under the Section 6of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946”.
The consent is akin to a blanket nod for the agency to probe scheduled offences specified in the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSE) Act, 1946.
Central Bureau of Investigation requires the consent of the state government concerned under Section 6 of the DPSE Act, the law that governs the agency functioning.
On October 13, the Kerala High Court had stayed for two months the CBI probe into alleged irregularities, including of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, in Life Mission, a state housing project envisaging total housing for the homeless.
The opposition has alleged there was corruption in selection of the contractor by Red Crescent, an international humanitarian organisation, and thatSwapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case, had admitted before an NIA court to having received Rs one crore as commission from the project.
BJP state president K Surendran said,”the decision not to allow the CBI in Kerala was taken as the investigation into the gold smuggling case and Life Mission scam reached the Chief Minister and his family”.