State scan: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee beats Centre with CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has hardly had a dull moment in the past few years.

It started with Justice R M Lodha denouncing the institution in the Supreme Court as a “caged parrot that speaks in its master's voice” because of clear evidence of interference in the alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks in 2013. 

But the midnight coup at the agency headquarters, the CBI vs CBI case, which is now being played out in the Supreme Court, are certainly the tops. As for Opposition leaders Chandrababu Naidu and Mamata Banerjee, it was an opportunity that slipped in ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

Andhra Pradesh was the first to withdraw the general consent to the CBI. The reason cited by the Telugu Desam Party — part of the national ruling coalition till March — was that the central agency had lost its independence and was being used as a tool against political opponents.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee felt the need to lockstep and withdrew the “general consent” thereafter. 

According to the law, the CBI — constituted under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946 — has jurisdiction over Delhi but requires the consent of other states to enter. In 1989, the Left Front government had taken moral high ground by giving a general consent order for its operations in West Bengal.

When in the opposition, Trinamool leaders said the party had demanded CBI investigation into the Nandigram police firing in 2007, which had killed 14 people.

“The general consent was there then but the Left had denied a CBI probe. After we withdrew the general consent, the Opposition has demanded a CBI probe in some matters but it has not been accepted,” a Trinamool leader said.

Typically, people demand a CBI probe in the hope of impartial investigation when the state suffers a trust deficit.

It’s hardly a surprise that Banerjee should choose the CBI's weakest moment to send out a message to the government when the expressions “bulldozing the autonomy” of the states, “federalism” and “central interference” have been resounding in her speeches for a while, possibly since the beginning of the second term, when politicians cutting across party lines — Nitish Kumar, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav, Farooq Abdullah, and Lalu Prasad — attended her swearing-in. As did Arun Jaitley.

Banerjee had been steering and stirring issues of national importance, her most relentless pursuit being the anti-demonetisation drive. Lately, she has been vocal about the stand-off between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the government as much as she has expressed her angst against the CBI. 

“They are destroying institutions. They are trying to change the way the RBI and the CBI function,” she said at a recent public meeting.

Her concerns are not unfounded. “Institutions, after all, are important for democracy. Once these are destroyed, they tend to lose their credibility. People tend to lose their faith in these institutions. That is dangerous not only for democracy but for any political system as a whole,” pointed out political analyst Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury.

That said, will blocking the CBI have far-reaching consequences? Unlikely, believe experts. The CBI will not need permission for cases that are not registered in Andhra Pradesh or West Bengal. Moreover, most of the cases were state-, Centre- or court-directed. 

In the ponzi schemes of Saradha and the Rose Valley, many Trinamool leaders have flitted in and out of custody. And the Narada case is still looming. But all these cases have a court mandate, which means that CBI investigation cannot be prevented in these cases.

Clearly, it was not fear of the CBI and what it might unearth that led Banerjee to withdraw the “general consent” order. After all, the central agency has earned the reputation of being a political tool.

It’s psychological warfare, pointed out an opponent. Banerjee is preparing for the Lok Sabha election next year. 

On January 19, a mega rally is being planned at the Brigade Parade Ground to launch a campaign to overthrow the BJP. Several political leaders from other states and parties are expected to join the clarion call. According to Banerjee, it would be the turning point for 2019.

As for blocking the CBI, the impact is secondary, it's the optics that matters.