Raids on Lalu’s kin: RJD wants law to make state nod to central agencies mandatory before raids

Taking a cue from states like West Bengal, Rashtriya Janata Party (RJD) MLA Bhai Birendra on Monday demanded that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar make prior consent of the state government mandatory for investigating agencies to obtain before they take any action like searches, citing “flagrant misuse of central agencies”.

The demand comes in the wake of questioning of RJD leaders, including Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, both former chief ministers of Bihar, and raids at premises linked to their family members and party leaders, including their son and deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, in connection with the “land for jobs” case being probed the federal agencies.

Raising the matter in the Legislative Assembly when chief minister Nitish Kumar was present there, Bhai Birendra sought that a proposal be passed in the House for making a law to this effect in the state.

“Given the way central investigating agencies are acting against Opposition leaders, there should be a law on the lines of the one in West Bengal and some other states, making prior consent of the state government mandatory before initiating any such action,” Birendra said.

Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary, however, asked the MLA to take his seat and allow the proceedings to continue.

The demand was also raised by RJD in August last year also soon after the Grand Alliance (GA) government was formed in Bihar, which saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stripped of power in the state.

Talking to reporters outside the Assembly, he said the CBI and ED were being used as tools by the union government “to silence Opposition voices in states where they see the prospect of being wiped out in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but such tactics will not work”.

“Therefore, I have urged the chief minister to come up with a law, like the one existing in other states, to check such unilateral action by central investigating agencies at the behest of the BJP,” he added.

Birendra accused BJP of fanning a false narrative that ₹600 crore in crime proceeds were detected in raids. “Where are the details? The investigating agencies have not given out any details. This is all BJP propaganda, which thrives on pedalling lies,” he said.

Birendra was backed by RJD MLA Akhtarul Islam Sahin. “In 2015 also, these agencies had given figures of ₹8,000 crore, ₹5,000 crore etc, but where did that all disappear? Let the investigating agencies come out with proof. Cases closed years ago have been reopened for political reasons,” he said.

Earlier, states like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Kerala, ruled by parties other than BJP, had withdrawn general consent for an investigation by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation).

A general consent to CBI means the agency is not required to seek fresh permission every time it enters a state in connection with investigation or for every case.

The Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DPSEA) Act, under which the CBI was formed, authorises the central government to direct CBI to probe a case within the jurisdiction of any state on the recommendation of the concerned state government. The courts can also order a CBI probe, and even monitor the progress of investigation.

Meanwhile, BJP hit back at RJD. MLA and former minister Pramod Kumar came to the House with a book “Lalu Leela”. “Laluji always used to say that he would not buckle under CBI pressure, but he had to go to jail. If RJD wants to rein in central agencies to protect itself, it should make a law, if it can,” he said.