SC Seeks Balance in State vs Centre Tensions Over Arrests of Central Probe Officers
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday called for a careful balance between the protection of central government officials from potentially vengeful actions by state police, and the need to allow state authorities to investigate allegations of corruption. The court’s remarks came during the hearing of a case concerning the arrest of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer by Tamil Nadu Police for alleged bribery.
A bench led by Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan examined the complex issue, noting that the core question was whether a state police force has the authority to arrest a central government officer without prior permission from the Centre. In this case, the officer had been caught accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh, and the Tamil Nadu Police had nearly completed their investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Tamil Nadu’s Additional Advocate General, Amit Anand Tiwari, explained that while the investigation was almost finished, the state police had paused action after the ED approached the Supreme Court. The accused officer’s defense counsel attempted to challenge the arrest, but the court reiterated that while the accused has no say in which agency conducts the investigation, they are entitled to a fair process.
Addressing the larger constitutional concerns, the bench warned that if state police acted out of vendetta by arresting central government officials, it could trigger a constitutional crisis. However, it also emphasized that denying state police the power to investigate crimes within their jurisdiction would be problematic. “Each component in a federal structure should retain its exclusive domains of jurisdiction,” the bench said, while acknowledging the need to balance these competing interests.
The court extended the interim bail granted to the arrested ED officer until further orders and promised to deliberate further on how to address such conflicts in future cases involving the federal structure.
