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Arun Jaitley Says Those Who Have A Lot To Hide Will Fear CBI

The Finance Minister's remarks come in the wake of the Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal governments withdrawing the "general consent" accorded to the CBI.
A file photo of Arun Jaitley.
Danish Ismail / Reuters
A file photo of Arun Jaitley.

BHOPAL — In the wake of the Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal governments withdrawing the "general consent" accorded to the CBI to conduct raids and probes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said those who had a lot to hide would fear the central agency.

He was speaking to reporters here after releasing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) manifesto for the 28 November Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls.

The Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal governments have withdrawn their "general consent" to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to conduct raids and investigations.

The agency would now need permission from the respective state governments to carry out any investigation in these states, except those ordered by the courts and against central government officials.

"It is only those who have a lot to hide who will take the step of saying let the CBI not come to my state. There is no sovereignty of any state in the matter of corruption," Jaitley said in response to a query.

"It is believed that Andhra's move is not motivated by any particular case, but by the fear of what is likely to happen. I am not saying anything more than that at the moment," he added.

"We have a federal structure in India and under that federal structure, the CBI was created initially for the employees of the central government and then, to investigate certain kinds of very serious cases in the states, which were referred to it either by the states or courts," Jaitley said.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.