Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has found himself in fresh trouble with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) clearing the way for the CBI to register a new case by granting sanction to prosecute him in connection with collection of "political intelligence" by a government department.
Sisodia said the filing of "bogus" cases against one's rival is a "sign of a weak and cowardly person" and the more AAP will grow, the more cases will be filed against them.
Officials said the MHA has conveyed to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's office about its decision to allow the CBI to move forward in connection with allegations of gathering political intelligence by Delhi government’s Feedback Unit (FBU) was taken under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 that gives powers to police to investigate a public servant.
Last August, the CBI had registered a case against Sisodia accusing him of indulging in corruption in the formulation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 to favour a cartel of private companies. He was summoned for questioning last Sunday but he did not appear before it, prompting the agency to issue another summons on February 26.
The fresh move to grant prosecution sanction came after the CBI found in its preliminary enquiry that the FBU, which is tasked to gather information on corruption, allegedly collected "political intelligence". The preliminary enquiry was initiated after Delhi government's Vigilance Department detected irregularities in the functioning of the FBU.
The FBU was set up in 2016 with a provision of Rs 1 crore for secret service expenditure, which also includes expenses for conducting “trap cases”. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had moved the proposal in a Cabinet meeting in 2015 but there was no agenda note as well as no sanction from the Lieutenant Governor for making appointments.
According to the CBI, around 40 per cent of the reports generated by the FBU were related to political intelligence. It also claimed there was a “deliberate violation” of rules and regulations by “delinquent” officials.
"The nature of violations committed is inherently dishonest and as such materials disclose abuse of official position with dishonest intention by concerned public servants Manish Sisodia, Deputy Chief Minister and Sukesh Kumar Jain, the then Secretary (Vigilance)," the CBI claimed.
The CBI claimed that the scrutiny of FBU reports between February and September in 2016 showed that a “substantial number” of them were not related to “actionable feedback or information” on corruption but “political issues touching political interest of AAP, BJP”. This was “beyond the scope and ambit” of the functions of the FBU, it said.
"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," the CBI alleged.
It also alleged that the FBU was functioning not in the interest of the Delhi government but the "private interest of the Aam Aadmi Party and Manish Sisodia".