[ By Bobby Anthony ]The Chhattisgarh government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to declare the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, passed by the Parliament during UPA I, as unconstitutional.The Chhattisgarh state government has filed an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution. Article 131 allows a state to directly move the Supreme Court where a dispute arises between...
The Chhattisgarh government has moved the Supreme Court seeking to declare the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, passed by the Parliament during UPA I, as unconstitutional.
The Chhattisgarh state government has filed an original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution. Article 131 allows a state to directly move the Supreme Court where a dispute arises between the state government and the central government.
“The plaintiff (State of Chhattisgarh) respectfully submits that the NIA Act is ultra vires the Constitution and is beyond legislative competence of Parliament since the Act empowers the defendant (central government) to create an agency for investigation, which notwithstanding the NIA, is carried out by the state police, which is a subject matter of the state under entry 2, List 2, Schedule 7, of the Constitution,” the Chhattisgarh state government suit stated.
The Chhattisgarh state government has contended that the NIA Act, in its present form, not only takes away the power of conducting investigation from the state through its own police force but also confers unfettered discretionary and arbitrary powers on the central government.
“Moreover, there are no rules governing the exercise of power which gives ample discretion to the defendant to exercise its power at any juncture without providing any reason or justification for the same,” the Chhattsgarh government suit stated.
The suit contended that provisions of the NIA Act leave no room for co-ordination and pre-condition of consent, in any form whatsoever, by the central government from the state government which clearly repudiates the idea of state sovereignty as envisaged under the Constitution.
“The plaintiff (State of Chhattisgarh) submits that the scheme of the NIA Act is such that once brought in motion, it completely takes away the power of the plaintiff to investigate offenses which have been categorized as scheduled offences under the NIA Act and which have been committed within the jurisdiction of the state,” the Chhattisgarh state government suit has stated.