The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday accused the Andhra Pradesh government of ‘non-cooperation’ and said that it ‘leaked’ the contents of a request letter to the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB). This came hours after the ACB arrested a Central government employee for accepting a bribe. CBI officials were miffed as they wanted to arrest the employee in question and had even requested for consent from the Andhra government. However, it was ACB who laid the trap and arrested him.
The accused official in question was M K Ramaneswar, Superintendent, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), who allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 35,000 for not raising objections in the CGST returns filed by the complainant’s firm.
Last month, the Andhra government had withdrawn "general consent" to the CBI for raids and investigations in the state without its permission. The move by the TDP government was seen as another flash-point between the state and the Centre after TDP pulled out of BJP-led NDA in March this year.
Following the latest arrest by the ACB, the CBI in a statement said, “The government of AP did not issue the specific consent as requested by the CBI. Instead the details were shared by the state’s Home Department and with the state ACB.”
Andhra Pradesh DGP R P Thakur on Friday claimed that there was no issue between the CBI and the ACB and said that it was the former who requested the Home Secretary that information would be passed on to the ACB if consent was not given.
However, in its response, the CBI also alleged that the ACB had even gone to the extent of claiming that they had received a tip-off and laid the trap, not mentioning CBI.
“CBI deeply regrets such non-cooperation by the state Home Department in this matter. This will only make the fight against corruption more difficult for the anti-corruption agencies and the mutual trust between the agencies will be vitiated. Corruption can be eradicated only through mutual cooperation, and trust,” the statement added.
The state government on August 3 this year had issued orders giving its general consent to the CBI to exercise its powers and jurisdiction in the state. The same has now been revoked as per Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.
It is under this Act that CBI exercises its jurisdiction in states. The state governments every year issue notifications to give a ‘general consent' to the investigating agency to probe corruption cases.