The relationship between the Centre and the states in India is a delicate one. Given the incredibly diverse nature of the country, not to mention its sheer size and linguistic variation, it cannot be any other way. The framers of the Indian Constitution were fully conscious of the need for a strong Centre. They made suitable legislative, administrative and financial provisions in the Constitution designed to give the Central government adequate powers to cope with all threats. But in doing so, they also recognised that state governments were not mere agents of the Centre. They were invested with extensive powers so that each state may be free to pursue its own way of life and develop its resources without hindrance. 

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So, unity in diversity was reconciled in a way fair to all parties concerned. This federal arrangement has, by and large, worked smoothly in the last seven decades or so. But every now and then, there is a ripple, which threatens to disturb this arrangement. The attempt by a CBI team to interrogate the Kolkata police commissioner on Sunday, in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam, reflects this breakdown. The Kolkata Police Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, had reportedly declined summons to present himself before the CBI headquarters in Delhi in connection with the Saradha scam. Kumar, who headed a Special Investigation team (SIT) to probe the scandal, was reportedly in possession of a diary and some pendrives that had been seized at the Saradha office during the course of the raids. The CBI’s charge is that these incriminating pieces of evidence had gone missing, hence it was important to interview the police commissioner. Since the officer did not turn up, a CBI team landed in Kolkata. 

Whatever the merits of the case, there can be no sight more unsavoury than a CBI team being pushed around by the Kolkata Police — both the forces are committed to law and order, belong to the same country and paid from the state exchequer. For Central and state forces to come to blows is a sad reflection and a sorry commentary on the state of Indian federalism. Even worse was the sight of the Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee sitting on a protest dharna “in order to save the Constitution and the federal structure.” The case has now reached the Supreme Court, whose help is being increasingly sought in all affairs constitutional. 

The Centre is well within its rights to claim that the CBI is entitled to question who it needs to, given the demands of a case. The state government too is empowered to protect its officers from any unreasonable pressure that may be imposed on them from any quarter, including the central government. Usually, such matters are tackled in consultation. There are cadres of elite IAS officers, whose job it is to go between the Centre and the state. It is also instructive to remember that while the relationship between the Centre and states is well chronicled — best reflected in the Sarkaria Commission findings — there remains certain grey areas. Maybe, it now needs the Supreme Court’s touch to put things in black and white.