NO STATE CONSENT NEEDED FOR CBI PROBE: SC

The Supreme Court ruled that courts have powers to order CBI probe without the consent of state governments with a rider that this should be used cautiously and sparingly. In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice K.G Balakrishnan said such powers have to be exercised cautiously by the Apex Court and the High Courts. The Bench, also comprising Justices R V Raveendran, D.K Jain, P Sathasivam and J.M Panchal, said that such powers have to be used sparingly in exceptional and extraordinary circumstances in cases having national and international ramifications. The verdict came on a bunch of petitions by the West Bengal government and some others who contended that the CBI can conduct a probe in any state only with prior consent of the concerned government under the provisions of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.