The Single Judge Bench of Calcutta High Court comprising Justice Tirthankar Ghosh has refused to interfere with the CBI probe in the illegal coal mining and cattle smuggling cases, in which Vinay Mishra — a former TMC youth leader — has been implicated, saying there was no “illegality committed” by the CBI probe.
The Bench held that “FIR lodged by CBI — two years after the state withdrew consent for all CBI probes in Bengal — isn’t applicable in this case as the officers implicated in the FIR are all central officers. The CBI FIR in these cases were against BSF and customs officials.”
Factual Background
The CBI had initiated a probe against Vinay Mishra , a former TMC youth leader in the illegal coal mining and cattle smuggling cases. The West Bengal Government had earlier revoked general consent through a gazette notification of November 16, 2018.
After withdrawing the General Consent, CBI was continuing its investigation. Aggrieved by which the State Government moved to Calcutta High Court for seeking direction from Courts to refrain the CBI from continuing investigation in West Bengal as the State Government had withdrawn its General Consent.
Court Reasoning & Judgment
The Court considered the facts on the merit and held that “Withdrawing ‘general consent’ by states to CBI can’t deter the agency from probing corruption charges against central government officers.”
The Court further held that Offenders under the Prevention of Corruption Act are to be dealt with equally and they cannot be “distinguished and/or discriminated” because their offices are in different states. They must be “hauled up for corruption in similar manner uniformly throughout the country”.
The Court was of the opinion that withdrawal of consent may be applicable to cases where exclusively the officers belonging to the state government are involved.
The Court also reprimanded the State for its protective behaviour towards its favourite officials and expressed that if the central government or CBI is probing “acts and omissions” of its own officers (in relation to illegal coal mining and cattle smuggling cases, it can’t be interfered with by the state even if the offences were committed within its territory.
Therefore, The Court dismissed the petition and refused to interfere in the CBI probe.
Case Details
Judge: Justice Tirthankar Ghosh
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