By Payal MehtaNew Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): Nine states across India including several Opposition-ruled states continued to withdraw the general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Union Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh told Parliament on Thursday.

In a written reply to the query of Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Lal Meena, Singh stated that amongst those states that continue to deny the general consent to CBI are West Bengal, Telangana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mizoram and Punjab. The list also includes Meghalaya where the BJP is in government with Conrad Sangma's National People's Party (NPP).

"As per Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) needs consent from the respective State government for conducting an investigation in its jurisdiction. In terms of the provision of Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946, a general consent to CBI has been granted by State governments for the investigation of a specified class of offences against specified categories of persons enabling CBI to register and investigate those specified matters," Singh who is the nodal minister for CBI said in his reply.

This comes at a time when the Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJR)-ruled government is also mulling the option of joining the ranks of other opposition parties. Recently an RJD MLA made a demand in the state assembly, urging Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take a leaf out of the books of states like West Bengal and Jharkhand. This of course in the wake of summons that was issued to the RJD chief Lalu Yadav's family in the land-for-job scam case.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao, National Conference (JKNC) chief Farooq Abdullah, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, were amongst those who expressed their concerns over the misuse of central agencies like Enforcement Directorate and CBI against the Opposition. These leaders recently wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing their concerns. (ANI)