The bench said that the main question is whether the officer should be arrested by the state police if he belongs to the central government. If the central government had allowed action against that officer, the situation would have been completely different.
The Tamil Nadu Police said that the ED officer has been caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh and the investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act is almost complete. The state police was ready to file a charge sheet, but had to wait as the ED approached the Supreme Court.
In the past, it has been seen that many cases have been registered by the state governments against the CBI and ED officials during the action of the central agencies. Now the Supreme Court has given an important decision in this matter. The country’s top court said central authorities need to balance each other to protect them from retaliation. The court held that the state police should not be prevented from investigating allegations of corruption. It also said that conflict between central and state agencies could lead to a constitutional crisis.
The bench is hearing a case related to the arrest of an ED officer by the Tamil Nadu police on charges of alleged corruption. The court said that the accused has no right in the investigation, but he has the right to a fair investigation. The bench said that the main question is whether the officer should be arrested by the state police if he belongs to the central government. If the central government had allowed action against that officer, the situation would have been completely different.
The Tamil Nadu Police said that the ED officer has been caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh and the investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act is almost complete. The state police was ready to file a chargesheet, but had to wait as the ED approached the Supreme Court.
The accused has no role in the investigation
The Supreme Court bench said, “The accused cannot have any role in the investigation, but he has the right to a fair investigation.” In a federal structure each component should be allowed to retain its own domain of jurisdiction. If a state police retaliated by arresting central government officials, it would create a constitutional crisis. So to say that the state would have exclusive power of arrest would be dangerous to the federal structure. But the State Police cannot be deprived of the power to investigate any offense within its jurisdiction.”
Supreme Court to frame system
The Supreme Court said that we will discuss the arguments of both sides to strike a balance between these two competing aspects of police power. This is a classic example of state vs union. We will consider planning a larger federal structure and determine the system for investigating such matters. The interim bail granted to the arrested ED officer in the present case has been extended till further orders.
