Shinde-Fadnavis govt. restores general consent to allow CBI to probe cases in Maharashtra

Move viewed as a setback to MVA coalition, who had withdrawn consent when their government was in power

The Maharashtra government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on October 20 reversed the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s decision of withdrawing the general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate cases in the State.

According to sources, the new BJP-Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena government restored the general consent given to the Central probe agency, with CM Shinde clearing the Home Department’s proposal to reverse the previous MVA government’s decision to withdraw general consent granted to the CBI. The Home Department is headed by Mr. Fadnavis.

The Shinde-Fadnavis government’s decision is being construed as a major setback for the opposition MVA coalition of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, given that the move clears decks for the CBI to probe opposition leaders and cases of a political import.

In October 2020, the Uddhav Thackeray-led had withdrawn the general consent to the CBI on grounds that the BJP-ruled central government was ‘misusing’ central probe agencies to settle political accounts.

The Centre-State war had intensified after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election when Mr. Thackeray had severed ties with the BJP—its long-standing saffron ally—to join hands instead with the ideologically opposed NCP and Congress and form the MVA.

Reacting to the development, Uddhav camp loyalist MP Arvind Sawant said the move laid bare the true intentions of the Shinde-Fadnavis government which was to persecute the opposition by framing false cases against them.

“Many states have withdrawn the general consent to the CBI… Even the Supreme Court has said that the CBI is the puppet of the [Central] government. The fact that the new Maharashtra government have reversed our earlier decision signals their real intentions,” Mr. Sawant said.