The secret unit set up by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government had a secret fund stashed in a chest that could be accessed only when two keys were used simultaneously to open it, a communication sent by an official associated with the Feedback Unit in 2016, has claimed. The details are part of the evidence gathered by the Central Bureau of Investigation as part of its probe into the alleged irregularities in the functioning of the alleged ‘Feedback Unit’.
The revelations come days after Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved a request by the central probe agency to file a case against Deputy CM Manish Sisodia on charges that the Delhi government formed the ‘Feedback Unit’ under the VIgilance department of the city government to “collect political intelligence”. The Delhi government and the Aam Aadmi Party have dismissed the allegations as bogus.
The details regarding the secret chest, namely the ‘Secret Service Fund’, came after an official who joined the unit on deputation wrote a three-page letter to the Special Secretary of the Vigilance department, raising concerns over its financial functioning. The official, Shams Afroz, a DSP-rank officer from Bihar, claimed to be one of the officials who held one of the two keys to the SSF chest.
As per the letter by Afroz dated September 22, 2016, he was issued an order on June 6 deputing the Advisor to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to “function as Joint Director in the feedback Unit”, and stating that the SSF “shall be maintained /utilised under his direct supervision”.
According to Afroz, on June 6, “certain instructions” were issued for regulation of the SSF, directing him to use money from it “at the instructions” of the Advisor.
The letter further states that on the very next day, he was directed to disburse Rs 5 lakh to clear “certain pending payments for the last 2-3 months” to “different sources and agencies” in connection with “different types of operations and collecting feedback”, the IE report states.
As per guidelines, Afroz stated, a disbursal register bearing details of the person who receives the fund and a cash book was being maintained by him “for proper documentation”.
“The said chest has two sets of keys — one in the custody of undersigned and the second in the custody of the Deputy Director (Feedback Unit). The chest can be opened only when both the keys are used simultaneously,” he wrote, adding that he was asked to maintain a secret record of the expenditure and receipts (if any) connected with allotment in the form of a cash book. According to Afroz, the record contained the particulars of each payment.