Maharashtra Denies consent to CBI

 

Maharashtra Denies consent to CBI

• Recently, the Maharashtra government withdrew its general consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe cases in the State.
• The move comes a day after the CBI registered an FIR in the TRP scam after taking over the probe based on an FIR filed in Uttar Pradesh.
• The Maharashtra government had an apprehension that the CBI would take over the TRP scam case that the Mumbai Police are already investigating.
• Earlier this year (2020), the CBI had also taken over the investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, which was being probed by the Mumbai Police.
• The Maharashtra government suspects the CBI of acting at the behest of the Centre.
• The Supreme Court in the past has called the CBI a “caged parrot” that sings the Centre’s tune.
• Maharashtra is the third State after West Bengal and Rajasthan to take such an action. The current confrontation also strengthens the perception that states in opposition see the Centre as weaponizing the CBI to control opposition-led governments in states.

General Consent

• Unlike the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is governed by its own NIA Act, 2008 and has jurisdiction across the country, the CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 (DSPE Act, 1946) that makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting an investigation in that state.
• There are two kinds of consent- case-specific and general. Given that the CBI has jurisdiction only over central government departments and employees, it can investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state only after that state government gives its consent.
• Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946 empowers the state government to give or deny consent to CBI officers to investigate the matter within the state.
• “General consent” is normally given to help the CBI seamlessly conduct its investigation into cases of corruption against central government employees in the concerned state. Almost all states have given such consent.

Impact of Withdrawal of General Consent

• It means the CBI will not be able to register any fresh case involving a central government official or a private person stationed in Maharashtra without getting case-specific consent.
• Withdrawal of consent will only bar the CBI from registering a case within the jurisdiction of concerned states. The CBI could still file cases in Delhi and continue to probe people inside Maharashtra.
• In simple terms withdrawal of consent means that CBI officers will lose all powers of a police officer as soon as they enter the state unless the state government has allowed them.
• It will have no impact on the investigation of cases already registered with CBI as old cases were registered when general consent existed.
• However, the CBI has recently started taking recourse in a Calcutta High Court judgment.
• The HC, in its order in the Ramesh Chandra Singh and another vs CBI, 2020 observed that CBI’s power to investigate and prosecute its own officials cannot be in any way impeded or interfered with by the state even if the offenses were committed within the territory of the state.

Source: Indian Express

7) Forex Reserves

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, the country’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves touched a lifetime high of USD 555.12 billion after it surged by USD 3.615 billion in the week ended 16th October 2020.

Reason Behind the Increase:

• The rise in total reserves was due to a sharp rise in Foreign Currency Assets (FCAs), a major component of the overall reserves.
• FCA jumped by USD 3.539 billion to USD 512.322 billion.

Foreign Exchange Reserves:

• Foreign exchange reserves are assets held on reserve by a central bank in foreign currencies, which can include bonds, treasury bills, and other government securities.
• It needs to be noted that most foreign exchange reserves are held in U.S. dollars.
• These assets serve many purposes but are most significantly held to ensure that the central bank has backup funds if the national currency rapidly devalues or becomes altogether insolvent.
• India’s Forex Reserves include:
• Foreign Currency Assets
• Gold
• Special Drawing Rights
• Reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Foreign Currency Assets

• FCA are assets that are valued based on a currency other than the country's own currency.
• FCA is the largest component of the forex reserve. It is expressed in dollar terms.
• FCA includes the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound, and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves.
• Currency appreciation refers to the increase in the value of one currency relative to another in the forex markets.
• Currency depreciation is a fall in the value of a currency in a floating exchange rate system.
• In a floating exchange rate system, market forces (based on demand and supply of a currency) determine the value of a currency.

Special Drawing Rights

• The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves.
• The SDR is neither a currency nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. SDRs can be exchanged for these currencies.
• The value of the SDR is calculated from a weighted basket of major currencies, including the U.S. dollar, the euro, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, and British pound.
• The interest rate on SDRs or SDRi is the interest paid to members on their SDR holdings.

Reserve Position in the International Monetary Fund

• A reserve tranche position implies a portion of the required quota of currency each member country must provide to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that can be utilized for its own purposes.
• The reserve tranche is basically an emergency account that IMF members can access at any time without agreeing to conditions or paying a service fee.

Source: The Hindu