Under the Constitution of India, “police” and “public order” (which also includes law and order) are state subjects. Under the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr.P.C.), registration of FIR and conducting investigation into criminal cases is mainly the responsibility of the state police. Under Cr.P.C., “police station” is to be established by the State Government. Therefore, the prime responsibility of registering FIR and conducting investigation is with the state police and not the CBI.
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the investigating agency of the Central Government. CBI has been set up under the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. The main jurisdiction of the CBI is to conduct investigation of criminal cases within the jurisdiction of the union territories (UTs) and that too only for those offences which are notified by the Central Government. However, under the provisions of the said Act, the Central Government has the power to extend the jurisdiction of the CBI to those areas which fall within a state for the purposes of conducting an investigation in those areas, but it can be done only with the consent of the State Government. Most of the states have given their general consent for the CBI to conduct investigation of certain types of offences (such as corruption) when committed within the state by employees of the Central Government or of the Central Public Sector Undertakings (such as PSU banks). But, that does not mean that the power of the state police to conduct investigation in these types of cases has been taken away. What it amounts to say is that the CBI has the concurrent power to conduct investigation of certain types of cases within a state (such as corruption in PSU banks), but the state police continues to have its original jurisdiction to register FIR and conduct investigation in such cases.
Therefore, it is possible for the state police to register FIR and conduct investigation in criminal cases (such as misappropriation or corruption) in PSU banks, though the CBI also may have this power if the concerned state has given its general consent for such cases or special consent in a particular case.
Dr. Ashok Dhamija is a New Delhi based Supreme Court Advocate and author of law books. Read more about him by clicking here. List of his Forum Replies. List of his other articles. List of his Quora Answers. List of his YouTube Videos.
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