Andhra Pradesh shuts doors to central sleuths

After raising concerns over the misuse of central investigating agencies and alleged harassment by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has withdrawn permission for such agencies to conduct raids and probes in the state, in a rare instance of a direct confrontation with the Centre.
Ever since Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party severed ties with the NDA and pulled out of the Union government in March, he has been raising apprehensions of likely raids by central agencies on businesses, bureaucrats and politicians.

Naidu opposed the largest ever income tax raids on businesses in Andhra recently, calling them an attempt by the BJP government to create panic and discourage investments in the state. The CM has been wooing global investments despite non-cooperation from the Centre on funding the revenue-deficit state that is reeling under constraints to build a capital city and infrastructure that it lost to Telangana in June 2014.

Andhra Pradesh Home Secretary AR Anuradha issued orders on November 8 to halt the probes, invoking Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act 1946, under which the Central Bureau of Investigation was created. Under this act, the CBI can probe corruption cases pertaining to central institutions and funds. It can enter any Indian state with the consent of the respective state government that is extended through a formal notification annually.

The Andhra Pradesh Home Department had on August 3 granted consent for the CBI to carry on its jurisdiction in the state, an order that’s now been withdrawn. The AP Home Secretary said the government decided to withdraw the ‘general consent’ issued on August 3 “to all the members of Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise the powers and jurisdiction under the said Act in the state of Andhra Pradesh.”

Further, the AP home secretary said the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the state investigation agency, has now been vested with the responsibility of taking up the CBI’s duties.

A CBI spokesperson said it hasn’t received the government’s order revoking the general consent to CBI for investigating officials of the central government in Andhra Pradesh.

A senior ruling TDP lawmaker and Cabinet member, who did not want to be identified, said, “The state government found it necessary to take the decision on withdrawing consent to the CBI in the background of recent internal fissures in the central investigating agency, resulting in loss of trust and credibility over the independent and objective conduct of its operations. CM Naidu has been quite critical on the misuse of the central agencies such as the Income Tax, CBI, Enforcement Directorate, among others.”