Chhattisgarh's doors shut for CBI, but it doesn't stop other agencies

By Sundeep Pouranik

Raipur, July 10 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been barred from probing cases in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, but the state remains on the radar of other Central agencies. 

More than three years after the Congress assumed office in the state, there have been two major raids by the Income Tax Department, which have also reached the people closely associated with the government. Income tax raids were conducted on a woman officer of the state government and a large amount of cash was recovered. After that, recently, the Income Tax Department also learnt about the property acquired illegally after they raided a total of 30 premises at many places in the state including Raipur, Bhilai, Bilaspur, Raigarh, Korba and Surajpur.

After the Congress came to power, the CBI was barred from investigating cases in the state, but other central agencies are  taking action. The CBI was banned in 2019 after the state government wrote to the Union Home Ministry for this. 

The CBI can investigate a case in a state only if the government of that state or the High Court or the Supreme Court allows it to do so. This is because the CBI is an institution created through the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946. Section 6 of the Act says that the CBI cannot enter the jurisdiction of a state without the consent of the concerned government.

A CD scandal in the state came to light in October 2018 during the tenure of the BJP government, in which a then minister also came under fire. The investigation of this case was in the hands of the CBI. Smelling a political conspiracy in this investigation, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel banned the CBI after he came to power.

Baghel was seen as the most active in the agitation launched by the Congress over the interrogation of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). During this, he also took to the streets in Delhi, and lambasted the central government.

Baghel also raised the question of misuse of investigative agencies. On the change of government in Maharashtra, he said now there will be no more raids in the state. "All agencies Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax (IT) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will be shifted to Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, southern states and Rajasthan (all non-BJP ruled states)," he stated.

On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Sanjay Srivastava recently attacked Baghel regarding the raids of the Income Tax Department. He says that after the arrest of coal trader Suryakant Tiwari, the Chief Minister has kept silent. "If Baghel, who flares up on every occasion, is silent in this matter, then there must be something. The question is why there is silence," he said.