india

Updated: Sep 05, 2019 00:47 IST

Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Rishi Kumar Shukla on Wednesday said the agency was facing difficulties in interstate investigations after some of the state governments withdrew the general consent.

In January this year, the Congress-led Chhattisgarh government had withdrawn the general consent accorded to CBI to probe cases in the state. Last year, the Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal governments, too, had withdrawn the ‘general consent’ to CBI under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.

The act requires the central agency to have a prior permission from the government to be able to carry out raids, make arrests or register FIRs.

While Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy overturned the previous government’s order to revoke the consent for CBI soon after he assumed charge, Banerjee is yet to reverse her decision.

CBI has been able to carry forward its probe into Saradha and Rose Valley chit fund cases in West Bengal as the Supreme Court had mandated it to do so. In that case, the Bengal government cannot stop it from any action.

Speaking at the first national conference on Cyber Crime Investigation and Cyber Forensics at CBI headquarters, Shukla said the agency was in a “dichotomous situation” where it is unable to fulfil its mandate in investigating interstate crimes due to absence of consent of some state governments.

The conference is aimed at creating a platform and bringing together investigators, lawyers, forensic experts and academia to discuss challenges related to cyber crime and ways to find solutions.

“…in the modern world, every sector — be it health, power, finance, water supply and infrastructure – all are digitised. While digitisation has improved the quality of citizen services, it has also increased vulnerability several folds. What is urgently needed is efforts to create capacity building and creation of a pool of competent investigators, digital forensic analysts, prosecutors and judicial officers who are digitally aware,” Shukla said.