CBI gets MHA nod to probe Sisodia in feedback unit case

The Union home ministry on Wednesday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to formally investigate Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with allegations that a special feedback unit created by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in 2015 illegally snooped on political rivals and government officials.

The decision sparked a sharp reaction from the AAP, which said Sisodia was being implicated in a false case, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which demanded that Sisodia be jailed. The development comes days after the federal agency summoned Sisodia to appear for questioning in connection with its probe into the now-scrapped liquor policy.

“Filing bogus cases against one’s rivals is a sign of a weak and cowardly person. The more AAP will grow, the more the number of cases that will be filed against us,” Sisodia said in a tweet in Hindi.

Also read: 'Cowardly': Sisodia on Centre's nod for prosecution in snooping case

In a communication to the principal secretary to the Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena, the Union home ministry said the sanction to investigate Sisodia was granted under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. In January, CBI sent a request to formally charge Sisodia in the case.

The controversy dates back to 2015, when the AAP won its first full term in Delhi. Not long after taking charge, the state government moved to set up a feedback unit, or FBU, in September 2015 to gather relevant information and actionable feedback on various departments and autonomous bodies, institutions and entities falling under its jurisdiction, and also to probe corruption cases. No cabinet note was moved for the proposal and no sanction was taken from the LG at the time, according to CBI.

The unit started functioning on February 1, 2016 with a provision of ₹1 crore, according to CBI, which said that FBU probed 700 cases in the eight months of existence -- 60% about vigilance and graft, and 40% related to generating political intelligence and snooping.The unit was formed under directorate of vigilance. Sisodia is the minister-in-charge of vigilance.

“Use of FBU to this extent for the purpose of gathering political intelligence for AAP or for its convener Arvind Kejriwal can reasonably be interpreted to mean and constitute the obtaining of valuable things or pecuniary advantage, as gathering this information otherwise would necessarily have entailed spending money,” CBI alleged in the preliminary inquiry report.

The agency said FBU was functioning for some hidden purpose which was not in the interest of the government of Delhi but “private interest of the Aam Aadmi Party and Manish Sisodia”, who played an active role in the creation of the unit.

The allegations first surfaced in November 2016and CBI took over the probe the same year. “There seems to have been a well-conceived attempt to establish an extraneous and parallel covert agency with overarching powers of snooping and trespass, without any legislative, judicial or executive oversight whatsoever,” Saxena said in a January 12 note while recommending a CBI probe in the case.

The AAP denied the allegations and said it was “the work of losers and scared people to implicate their rivals in a false case”. “As the AAP grows further, more such false cases will be filed. This case is completely false,” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said in a statement.

With the Centre now granting sanction, CBI may soon register a first information report (FIR) against Sisodia and five others who were part of FBU, said an officer on the condition of anonymity.

Section 17A was inserted in the Prevention of Corruption Act by the Centre in July 2018, making it mandatory for the police or CBI to seek prior approval for conducting any “enquiry”, “inquiry” or “investigation” into any corruption-related offences. To be sure, sanction under Section 17A is different from prosecution sanction (under section 19 of the Indian Penal Code), as the latter is taken only before filing a charge sheet.

The fresh controversy comes at a time when the government is already under a cloud over the now-scrapped excise policy 2021-22, for allegedly favouring private businessmen in getting wholesale and retail liquor licences in the capital in lieu of kickbacks. On February 20, CBI issued new summons to Sisodia, asking him to appear at the agency’s headquarters on February 26 – the second time since October 17 last year.

Sisodia and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have hit out at the Union government, accusing it of using federal agencies as a tool for political vendetta and to stop the deputy CM’s work.

Also read: More cases will be lodged as AAP grows: Sisodia on MHA’s prosecution sanction

While recommending a CBI probe, Saxena mentioned in a note on January 12 that FBU surreptitiously created infrastructure for snooping and eavesdropping in the national capital.

“…running, in effect, a parallel system of illegitimate intelligence gathering infrastructure for gathering political information on adversaries’ of the party in power, and countering the legitimacy established security/intelligence infrastructure of the country, inter alia, is a potent tool for dangerous misuse – especially considering that the Unit was manned by retired officials of IB (Intelligence Bureau) and central paramilitary forces and the details of their functioning or the reports generated by them were directedly submitted to the chief minister, for serving vested interest of a particular political party,” LG stated in his note, seen by HT.