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The woes of the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi, beset by other corruption cases, including the liquor scam, appear to be mounting once again. In fact, the Delhi government was accused of spying on leaders by the Feedback Unit. In this case, the Congress leaders demanded the arrest of Manish Sisodia while he was being investigated by the NIA. Now the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi sent this matter to the Chief Secretary and directed to take action.
According to media reports, Delhi’s Lt. Gen. office has said that Congress leaders Sandeep Dikshit, Professor Kiran Walia and Mangat Ram Singhal have demanded an inquiry into the spying scandal. It also said it should be investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Now, taking cognizance of this issue, the Lt. Governor has asked the Chief Secretary to take necessary action in this regard.
Mounting problems for #AAP regarding the alleged snoopgate. #Delhi LG sent to the Chief Secretary a request from #Congress leaders seek investigation under UAPA by NIA. @NiyamikaS reports pic.twitter.com/kXOmQBemxm
— Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) March 13, 2023
As the matter is now in the court of the Chief Secretary, it has to be seen whether he takes steps to have the matter probed by the NIA or not. Incidentally, the CBI is already investigating the espionage case. On February 22, the Union Home Ministry gave permission to file a case against Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
what is the whole thing
After the Aam Aadmi Party government was formed in Delhi in 2015, Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal wanted to control the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). But he did not succeed in this. Following this, Kejriwal decided to set up a Feedback Unit under his Vigilance Department. The objective of this unit was to monitor the institutions under the Government of Delhi and provide feedback for improvement. However, it is alleged that at the behest of the Delhi government, this intelligence unit has started spying on opposition party leaders. There is also the allegation of monitoring the work of many leaders.
CBI charges
The CBI alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had tabled the proposal for the Feedback Unit in a cabinet meeting in 2015. But no agenda note was circulated for this. The approval of the Lt. Governor has also not been taken for the appointments in the Feedback Unit. The CBI in its preliminary report said that the Feedback Unit, apart from collecting mandatory information, was also collecting political intelligence.
The CBI also analyzed the reports issued by the Feedback Unit between February 2016 and September 2016. Based on these reports, it was found that 40% of these reports were about spying on political party leaders. Also, the CBI said that the illegal manner of construction and functioning of the Feedback Department caused a loss of around Rs 36 million to the exchequer.
