General Consent to CBI

The CBI is governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act.
This makes consent of a state government mandatory for conducting an investigation in that state.
Generally, the CBI has jurisdiction only over central government departments and employees.
However, it can investigate a case involving state government employees or a violent crime in a given state only after that state government gives its consent.

When is Consent needed?

There are two kinds of consent: case-specific and general.
General consent is normally given to help the CBI seamlessly conduct its investigation into cases of corruption against central government employees in the concerned state.
Almost all states have given such consent.
Otherwise, the CBI would require consent in every case.
For example, if it wanted to investigate a bribery charge against a Western Railway clerk in Mumbai, it would have to apply for consent with the Maharashtra government before registering a case against him.

It means the CBI will not be able to register any fresh case involving a central government official or a private person stationed in these two states without getting case-specific consent.
Withdrawal of consent simply means that CBI officers will lose all powers of a police officer as soon as they enter the state unless the state government has allowed them.

Section 6 of the Act says nothing contained in Section 5 shall be deemed to enable any member of the Delhi Special Police Establishment to exercise powers and jurisdiction in any area in a State, not being a Union Territory or Railway, area, without the consent of the Government of that State.
In exercise of the power conferred by Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946, the government can withdraw the general consent to exercise the powers and jurisdiction.

Origins of CBI can be traced back to the Special Police Establishment (SPE) set up in 1941 in order to cases of bribery and corruption in War & Supply Department of India during World War II.
The need of a Central Government agency to investigate cases of bribery and corruption was felt even after the end of World War II.
So, DSPE (Delhi Special Police Establishment) Act, 1946 was brought that gave legal power of investigating cases to CBI.
CBI is not a statutory body as it is not established by an Act of the Parliament.
CBI investigates cases related to economic crimes, special crimes, cases of corruption and other high-profile cases.
CBI comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
CBI is exempted from Right to Information (RTI) Act similar to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), etc.