Consent Of State Government Not Required For Investigating Offences Committed Abroad By Indian Citizens; Only Central Government Sanction Needed: Allahabad HC
The Allahabad High Court held that for investigating the offence committed outside India by Indian citizens, there is no requirement to seek the consent of the State Government under Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act and only sanction of the Central Government is required.
The Court said that the Government notification of May 27, 2016, issued by the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievance and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training) mentioned that C.B.I. was designated as the Nodal Agency to deal with and obtain sanction for prosecution from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Court was hearing a Criminal Miscellaneous Writ Petition seeking issuance of appropriate direction to transfer the investigation of the case under Section 304-B IPC to CBI.
The bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Justice Arun Kumar Singh Deshwal observed, “…for conducting investigation for the offence committed outside the India by Indian citizen under Section 188 Cr.P.C. there is no requirement to seek consent of State Government under Section 6 of DSPE Act and only sanction of Central Government is required.”
Senior Advocate Anoop Trivedi appeared for the Appellant, Senior Advocate Gyan Prakash appeared for CBI and Advocate Manu Vardhana appeared for the Union of India.
Brief Facts-
The Petitioner’s daughter married and later moved to the U.S., where she died in a house explosion in Seattle. The Petitioner filed a dowry death FIR in Uttar Pradesh and reported the incident to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the CBI. The Meerut Police recommended a CBI investigation, as the offence occurred abroad. However, after no action from the CBI under Section 188 Cr.P.C., the Petitioner approached the Court with the present Petition.
The Court noted, “as per Section 6 of DSPE Act consent of State Government is required for investigation in any area of the State Government but if the investigation is to be conducted for the offence committed outside India by the Indian citizen then there is no requirement of seeking consent of State Government. The Central Government may by order under Section 5 of DSPE Act extend the jurisdiction of C.B.I. to any area in a State but in the case of investigation outside the country, Central Government does not pass any order under Section 5 of DSPE Act to extend the jurisdiction of C.B.I. to any area in a State.”
The Court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation and Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs to investigate the death of the daughter of the Petitioner.
Accordingly, the Court allowed the Petition.
Cause Title: Kalpana Maheshwari v. State of UP (Neutral Citation: 2024:AHC:154012-DB)
Appearance:
Appellant: Senior Advocate Anoop Trivedi and Advocate Jitendra Kumar
Respondent: Senior Advocate Gyan Prakash, Advocates Manu Vardhana and Sanjay Kumar Yadav
