India, May 3 -- The Union government on Thursday accused the West Bengal government of "suppression of facts" and "misleading the court" while seeking dismissal of a constitutional suit filed by the state to bar the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from conducting probes in the latter's territory in the absence of prior approval of the state.

The Centre underlined that CBI, which is not listed as a defendant by the state in its suit, operates with a degree of independence, thus questioning the causal connection between the Union's actions and the grievances cited by West Bengal.

"CBI is not 'Union of India' nor is controlled by the latter. The CBI is an independent legal person and has a separate legal identity outside the Union of...