Tamil Nadu withdraws general consent given to CBI following minister's arrest

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday withdrew the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to carry out probe in the state, joining a list of non-BJP ruled states who have done so earlier.

The move comes on a day when state Electricity and Prohibition and Excise Minister V Senthil Balaji was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, a central probe agency, in a money laundering case.

A Home Department release here said that according to a specific provision of the the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (Central Act XXV of 1946) the CBI has to secure prior permission from the state government concerned before going there to conduct a probe.

"The Tamil Nadu government has today issued orders withdrawing the general consent given to certain types of cases in 1989 and 1992 under the aforesaid rule. Accordingly, the CBI has to henceforth get the Tamil Nadu government's prior approval for conducting investigation in the state," it said.

The release pointed out that West Bengal, Rajasthan, Kerala, Mizoram, Punjab and Telangana have already issued a similar order.