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Kanwal Tanuj v. The State of Bihar

Criminal Appeal · 2020 INSC 357Decided 24 Apr 2020
Criminal Appeal No. 414 of 2020
Justice A.M. Khanwilkar · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

The appellant, an IAS officer, challenged an FIR registered by the CBI under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, alleging offences including cheating, forgery and corruption connected with fraud on a Government of India undertaking (Bokaro-Barauni gas pipeline entity) and siphoning of its funds. His petition to quash the FIR before the Patna High Court was dismissed, and before the Supreme Court he argued the CBI (a "special police force" whose jurisdiction in a state ordinarily needs that state's consent under Section 6 of the 1946 Act) could not investigate him without the consent of the State of Bihar, since he was a resident of Bihar/connected with the Bihar government.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the alleged offences were committed and consummated in Delhi (a Union Territory where the CBI's jurisdiction under Section 2 of the 1946 Act operates without needing any state's consent), so the State of Bihar's consent under Section 6 was not a precondition to investigation, even though one of the accused happened to be a resident of or connected with Bihar. The territorial location where the offence was committed, not the accused's residence or employment, determines whether state consent is needed. The Court left open the separate question of whether a sanction to prosecute would still be needed before a competent court takes cognizance against the appellant. The appeal was accordingly dismissed.

Lesson Learnt

The CBI does not need a state government's consent to investigate offences that were actually committed within a Union Territory (such as Delhi), even if the accused resides in or is employed by a different state: jurisdiction follows where the crime happened, not where the accused is based.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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