The Supreme court has said transfer of investigation to the CBI cannot be a routine exercise and should be done only in exceptional circumstances.
One factor which is considered relevant for induction of the central agency like the CBI in an investigation is to retain public confidence in the impartial working of the State agencies, said a bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy.
The Supreme Court made these observations while upholding the Bihar government’s recommendation to transfer the FIR lodged in Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case in Patna to the CBI.
The court referred to its recent decision in a case related to journalist Arnab Goswami and said it not for the accused to choose the investigating agency. The top court said that while the CBI cannot conduct any investigation without the consent of the state concerned as mandated under section 6, the powers of the Constitutional Courts are not fettered by the statutory restriction of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act.
Lately, it has become common for politicians and people from other sections to demand a CBI investigation for even ordinary cases. The State governments too, in an apparent bid to silent protests and opposition parties, recommend CBI probe for many cases.
Importance of the agency should be understood and its workload should be taken into account before such decisions are taken in future. If it is an extraordinary case that requires the expertise of the agency, a CBI probe is fine. Otherwise, the investigation agency should not be called for insignificant cases.