Prior consent mandatory for CBI to probe offences involving public servants: Bihar govt

Patna: The Bihar government on Saturday asserted that obtaining prior consent shall be "mandatory" for the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe offences allegedly involving public servants in the state.

This has been made clear in a Home Department notification, which has been stated to be "in supersession of all previous notifications on this subject".

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"The governor of Bihar hereby accords consent to extension of the powers and jurisdiction of members of Delhi Police Special Establishment throughout the state...for the investigation of offences..... allegedly committed by employees of the Government of India, Public Sector Undertakings and private individuals under direct control of Government of India", said the notification.

Notably, the CBI is a non-statutory body that derives its powers from the Delhi Police Special Establishment Act, 1946.

The Home department notification added that it shall be "mandatory to obtain the prior consent of Government of Bihar" in cases where the offences "involve public servants appointed in connection with the affairs of Government of Bihar or persons appointed in connection with the affairs of any corporation, company or bank owned and controlled by the Government of Bihar or any institution receiving or having received financial assistance from the Government of Bihar".

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"Upon receipt of a proposal from the members of the Delhi Police Special Establishment, the state government shall consider and decide on the matter of granting investigation powers on case-to-case basis", the notification added.