The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) headed by Amit Shah has given its sanction to prosecute Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act in connection with the ‘Feedback Unit (FBU) snooping case’, reported The Indian Express.
The Aam Aadmi Party has called the allegations “completely bogus”.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena had approved the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s request for prosecution sanction and forwarded it to the MHA. The communication to the L-G from the MHA came on February 17.
The central probe agency had earlier sought sanction to register a First Information Report (FIR) against Sisodia, who is the head of the Delhi government’s vigilance department. He is accused of creating the FBU surreptitiously in 2015 as an ‘Extra Constitutional-Extra Judicial Intelligence Agency.’
The CBI alleged that the FBU started functioning on February 1, 2016, with 17 contractual employees most of whom were retired Intelligence Bureau and Central Paramilitary Force officials, and its motive was to allegedly spy on different officials, including ministries, Opposition political parties, individuals, among others.
The FBU was allegedly run and managed by the close aides and advisors of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
The case also allegedly pertains to illegal/unaccounted expenditure in the name of ‘Secret Service Fund’ allocated to the FBU.
Earlier, the AAP minister was summoned by the CBI on Sunday for probe into the alleged Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case. He had sought time to appear before it, citing Budget exercise of the city government.