CBI not allowed in Rajasthan

Jaipur: The officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will not be allowed in Rajasthan without the permission of the state government, said a notification issued by the state's Home Department.

The decision of the Ashok Gehlot government was taken a day after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs summoned the state Government in the phone tapping case.

The Union Home Ministry sent a notice to the state government regarding the phone tapping of broker Sanjay Jain for his alleged involvement in horse-trading of MLAs.

The Ministry questioned under what rule the tapping was done.

Officials confirmed that there was a fear factor ruling amongst Congress leaders that after the Income Tax and the ED, now the CBI can also be brought into the political war going on between two warring factions -- one headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the other by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot.

However, the notification is not a new thing as the state government had written to the central government in 1990, making it aware that in the cases involving CBI investigation, the state government will only give consent on a case to case basis.

The notification clearly states that if the CBI visits Rajasthan to investigate cases related to the IPC, then it must first get the consent of the state government.

However, in international, national and inter-state matters, the CBI is not required to get the consent of the state government.

A day after questioning Congress MLA Krishna Poonia in the suicide case of a Rajasthan Police officer, the CBI was on Tuesday quizzing the Chief Minister's OSD Devalal Saini in the matter, official sources said.

"A team of CBI officials from Delhi are questioning Saini in Jaipur in connection with the suicide of Churu district's Rajgarh Police Station House Officer (SHO) Vishnu Dutt Vishnoi," Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sources in Delhi told IANS.