Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO
Congress leaders have written to Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, demanding a probe into allegations of snooping by the Delhi government through a specially designed ‘feedback unit’ (FBU), Raj Niwas officials said on Monday.
The L-G Secretariat has forwarded the request to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar for further action, the officials added.
According to sources, in a letter to the Lieutenant-Governor on March 1, Sandeep Dikshit, Mangat Ram Singhal and Kiran Walia of the Congress sought an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, into the allegations of snooping.
Responding to the development, the Aam Aadmi Party said that this shows the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre and the Congress are “one”.
The Union Home Ministry had, in February, cleared the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to prosecute then Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) on charges of “snooping on political opponents through a specially designed FBU”.
The CBI’s preliminary inquiry, based on a 2016 complaint by an official of the Delhi Directorate of Vigilance, stated that the FBU indulged in collecting political intelligence and snooping.
According to Raj Niwas officials, the Congress leaders in their letter said the prosecution sanction to the CBI under the PCA was “not relevant”.
“If the Government of Delhi, with full knowledge of its Chief Minister and the entire Cabinet, sanctioned and set up a unit that had the capacity and intent to collect information, electronic data etc. with a capacity to intercept and listen to/ observe/record data, which is neither allowed to this government constitutionally, then it is not just a case of corruption,” the letter read, adding that it is a “clear case of sedition”.
“The CBI and NIA must be directed to investigate under laws governing sedition and anti-national activities, and as evidence of wrongdoing has already been found, the concerned CM and Ministers of Delhi government and officials must be prosecuted,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, an AAP spokesperson said, “When the AAP government makes any complaint or reference to the BJP’s L-G, he never takes any action on that. But the BJP’s L-G has immediately taken action on a complaint by Congress leaders. This shows how the BJP and the Congress are one.”
He added, “While the BJP has arrested Satyendar Jain and Manish Sisodia on completely false cases within a few months of registering FIRs, [Congress leader] Rahul Gandhi has not been arrested in a water tight open and shut National Herald case even after ten years after registering of FIR. Why?”
