Can state police arrest central agency staff? SC says issue double-edged

NEW DELHI: In a significant response to growing cases of arrests of officers of central probe agencies by state police, Supreme Court Friday pitched for balance between competing objectives of protecting the Centre's functionaries from vengeful actions which could trigger a constitutional crisis, while not restraining state police from probing allegations of corruption.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan found themselves addressing the conflictual question while hearing a case related to the arrest of an ED officer by Tamil Nadu police for alleged corruption.

Accused has no say on probe, but has right to a fair one: SC
Hearing a case related to the arrest of an ED officer by Tamil Nadu police for alleged corruption, a Supreme Court bench led by Justice Surya Kant said the moot question was if the officer was from central govt, should he be arrested by state police. If central govt had given permission to proceed against that officer, it was a different scenario altogether, it said.

Additional advocate general for Tamil Nadu Amit Anand Tiwari told the bench, also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, that the ED officer was caught red-handed accepting Rs 20 lakh bribe and that investigation in the case under Prevention of Corruption Act was almost complete. "State police were ready to file a chargesheet but waited because of ED approaching SC," Tiwari said.

When the accused officer's counsel attempted to interject, Tiwari objected and said the accused could not have a say in the matter of investigation or which agency should investigate a crime. The bench said, "The accused can have no say in the matter of investigation, but he has a right to fair investigation."

Referring to the conflicting issues involved in the case, the bench said, "In a federal structure, each and every component should be allowed to retain its exclusive domains of jurisdiction. Take a hypothetical scenario - if a state police, out of vendetta, arrests central govt officials, it will create a constitutional crisis. So, to say that state will have exclusive power to arrest would be dangerous to the federal structure. But to deny state police its power to investigate a crime within its jurisdiction would be undesirable. We will deliberate and consider arguments from both sides to strike a balance between these two competing aspects of police power."

The bench further said, "This is a classic case of state vs the Union and we will consider the larger federal structure scheme and determine the mechanism for investigation into such cases." It extended the interim bail granted to the arrested ED officer till further orders.