Bengal BJP government restores CBI consent, ends 8-yr standoff
The Statesman | 14 May 2026
Eight years after the Trinamul Congress government in the state withdrew the “general consent” for the Central Bureau of Investigation, the newly government in West Bengal on Wednesday restored clearance to the Central agency to proceed against officials accused in corruption cases without prolonged administrative hurdles.
Announcing the decision from Nabanna, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said his government had adopted a “zero tolerance” policy towards corruption and had already granted pending approvals to the CBI in multiple cases.
“Four CBI cases had been kept pending by the state government for the last four years. Under the law, agencies like the CBI or any court-appointed investigating authority require permission from the state government to prosecute or file charge sheets against officials accused of corruption,” Adhikari said.
“The previous government withheld those approvals to shield corrupt bureaucrats and officers. We have now granted the necessary sanction in cases linked to three departments and the CBI has already received the clearance copy,” he added.
The Chief Minister said the approvals covered investigations related to the school recruitment scam in the education department, alleged irregularities in municipal recruitment and corruption cases linked to the cooperative department being probed under court supervision.
Explaining the rationale behind the move, Adhikari said the BJP had repeatedly promised action against “institutional corruption” during the election campaign and the government had now begun implementing that commitment.
General consent is a standing permission granted by state governments under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act that allows the CBI to conduct searches and investigations within a state’s jurisdiction without seeking case-by-case approval.
Once such consent is withdrawn, the agency must obtain specific permission from the state government for every fresh investigation unless directed otherwise by a constitutional court.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government had withdrawn the general consent in November 2018, alleging that Central agencies were being used by the Union government to target opposition-ruled states as part of “political vendetta”.
The decision had significantly restricted the CBI’s functioning in West Bengal and led to repeated confrontations between the state administration and the Central agency.
The absence of general consent forced the CBI to depend largely on court orders for investigations in politically sensitive matters, including the school recruitment corruption case.
The friction had also culminated in the dramatic 2019 standoff in Kolkata when a CBI team probing former police commissioner Rajeev Kumar was detained by Kolkata Police officers.
Despite the withdrawal of consent, the Supreme Court had on several occasions clarified that court-monitored or court-directed investigations could continue irrespective of the state government’s position.
With Wednesday’s announcement, the new government has effectively reversed one of the most contentious administrative decisions taken by the previous regime regarding the functioning of central investigating agencies in West Bengal.