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Earlier, the committee for administrative reforms also stressed the urgency to investigate and prosecute crimes with inter-state and international links by a central agency.
In February last, home minister Shivraj Patil told the Lok Sabha that the Centre “has been consulting state governments on the matter. However, most states have expressed reservations on this issue”.
He further said since ‘police and public order’ was in the state list of the Constitution, the Union government had also “proposed a joint consultative mechanism to obtain the states’ consent on a case-to-case basis for investigation by a central agency of select terror cases that may have inter-state or international links and pose a direct threat to national security and related crimes such as espionage, hijacking and smuggling of arms and fake Indian currency notes from outside, and efforts to evolve a consensus on the matter continues”.
Interestingly, in March last or a month after his first statement, the home minister faced a query in the Lok Sabha “whether most states and Union territories have opposed the central agency to investigate federal crimes; and, if so, the details and reaction of the Union government”.
The minister replied, “There is no definition of ‘federal crime’ in IPC. ‘Police’ and ‘public order’ are state subjects. It is open to states or Union territories to entrust criminal cases having inter-state ramifications to the CBI as per the provisions of section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.”
After Jaipur, serial blasts have rocked Bangalore and Ahmedabad. The Bombay Stock Exchange is also said to be under threat, and the prime minister has again stressed the need for a federal agency.
But it’s intriguing that the Centre is sitting on the Rajasthan Control of Organised Crime bill for the past four years. Another BJP-ruled state Gujarat is also awaiting presidential assent to a bill that’s no different from Maharashtra’s MCOCA.
BJP leader LK Advani has revived his demand for immediate presidential assent to these bills. Former CBI director Joginder Singh says “strike when the iron is hot” as he wants the Centre to promulgate an ordinance now to set up a federal agency to deal with terror.