Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has reversed the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s decision to withdraw general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation, PTI reported on Friday.
The decision means that the CBI will no longer have to ask for the state government’s permission to initiate inquiries on a case-by-case basis. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state Cabinet on Thursday.
“The notification for the same will be issued in two to three days,” an unidentified state government official told The Indian Express.
In October last year, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had withdrawn the general consent to the CBI, saying that the central government was misusing central probe agencies against political opponents.
The move had come a day after the CBI filed a case to investigate allegations of manipulation of Television Rating Points by three channels, which the Mumbai Police was already looking into.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had accused the CBI of interfering with matters already being probed by the Maharashtra police. He had said the government would have to take such decisions if “someone tries to abuse” the rights of the state and its police as per the Constitution.
At the time, Maharashtra was the fifth non-BJP-ruled state to pass such an order. Rajasthan had withdrawn consent earlier in 2021, while West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh had revoked it in 2019.
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