The UPA government has approved setting up of a Commission of Inquiry to mainly investigate the so-called “snoopgate” allegations involving Narendra Modi, taking direct aim at the BJP’s PM candidate and setting the stage for a rancorous battle between the parties in the run up to the 2014 general elections.
The allegations that Modi ordered illegal surveillance of a woman by the Gujarat Police in 2009 will be investigated by a commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and is tasked to deliver its report in time for the general elections. "The Cabinet has approved a proposal to set up a Commission of Inquiry under Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, to look into the incidents of physical/electronic surveillance in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, allegedly without authorisation," an official release said. Curiously, the commission’s remit also includes incidents of surveillance purported to have taken place in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
This, government sources said, was aimed at allowing the commission to investigate complaints of senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley that his phone records were illegally collected by some people. The Himachal angle of the probe pertains to present Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s allegation that his phones were illegally tapped at the behest of his BJP predecessor PK Dhumal, the sources said.
Political observers said the move to include Delhi NCR and HP and thereby making it an omnibus inquiry was aimed at taking the sting out of any criticism that the probe was aimed exclusively at Modi.
But the main target of the proposed inquiry remains Gujarat, where the surveillance of the woman, allegedly ordered by Modi and overseen by his close confidante and then state Home Minister Amit Shah, is widely seen as the biggest political challenge the Gujarat chief minister faces since the 2002 Gujarat riots.
After these allegations were reported last month by two investigative portals, the Gujarat government constituted its own commission of inquiry to look into the charges. But the Congress and many other parties have dismissed this inquiry as a “cover-up exercise”.
Government sources said after the cabinet decision, the central government could dissolve the commission of inquiry instituted by the state government. The centre’s Commission of Inquiry will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and will be asked to submit its report within three months, they said.
While Modi has said nothing on this case, the BJP has said the surveillance on the woman, then an architect based in Bangalore, was instituted upon a request by her father and a friend of Modi who feared a threat to her safety, an explanation that has failed to cut ice with Modi’s critics.
Sources said the home ministry pushed for the Commission of Inquiry, which will have powers to seek documents and depositions from officials, saying that it had received demands for an investigation from many quarters and that the issue involved was an interstate matter and a violation of Telegraph Act. President Pranab Mukherjee too is learnt to have forwarded to the home ministry several petitions received from several women’s organisations demanding a probe into the allegations.
The “snoopgate” conversations, purportedly carried out between Shah and a senior Gujarat police official during August and September 2009 , do not specifically mention Modi by name, but the portals claimed a “saheb” referred to in the tapes was the Gujarat chief minister. Pradeep Sharma, an IAS officer suspended by the Gujarat government, has alleged in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that that the woman and Modi had close relations.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was quick to welcome the cabinet decision on Thursday, saying it was overdue as the case involved the violation of Telegraph Act.
While Modi remained silent, the BJP slammed the government for the decision, saying it smacked "political vindictiveness".
"It is a clear case of political vindictiveness, it is a witchhunt...clearly it is the fascist Congress with its emergency mindset that has taken such a decision. BJP shall meet all the challenges and fight at every platform," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.
Senior BJP leaders and the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha said the decision would be challenged in the courts. "This action legally is a suspect and liable for challenge. I am sure it will be legally challenged in courts. The setting up of this Commission (of Inquiry) violates the federal structure of the Constitution. It is an affront to the states. I hope other chief ministers also join in the protest against this action."
The allegations that Modi ordered illegal surveillance of a woman by the Gujarat Police in 2009 will be investigated by a commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and is tasked to deliver its report in time for the general elections. "The Cabinet has approved a proposal to set up a Commission of Inquiry under Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, to look into the incidents of physical/electronic surveillance in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, allegedly without authorisation," an official release said. Curiously, the commission’s remit also includes incidents of surveillance purported to have taken place in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.
This, government sources said, was aimed at allowing the commission to investigate complaints of senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley that his phone records were illegally collected by some people. The Himachal angle of the probe pertains to present Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh’s allegation that his phones were illegally tapped at the behest of his BJP predecessor PK Dhumal, the sources said.
Political observers said the move to include Delhi NCR and HP and thereby making it an omnibus inquiry was aimed at taking the sting out of any criticism that the probe was aimed exclusively at Modi.
But the main target of the proposed inquiry remains Gujarat, where the surveillance of the woman, allegedly ordered by Modi and overseen by his close confidante and then state Home Minister Amit Shah, is widely seen as the biggest political challenge the Gujarat chief minister faces since the 2002 Gujarat riots.
After these allegations were reported last month by two investigative portals, the Gujarat government constituted its own commission of inquiry to look into the charges. But the Congress and many other parties have dismissed this inquiry as a “cover-up exercise”.
Government sources said after the cabinet decision, the central government could dissolve the commission of inquiry instituted by the state government. The centre’s Commission of Inquiry will be headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and will be asked to submit its report within three months, they said.
While Modi has said nothing on this case, the BJP has said the surveillance on the woman, then an architect based in Bangalore, was instituted upon a request by her father and a friend of Modi who feared a threat to her safety, an explanation that has failed to cut ice with Modi’s critics.
Sources said the home ministry pushed for the Commission of Inquiry, which will have powers to seek documents and depositions from officials, saying that it had received demands for an investigation from many quarters and that the issue involved was an interstate matter and a violation of Telegraph Act. President Pranab Mukherjee too is learnt to have forwarded to the home ministry several petitions received from several women’s organisations demanding a probe into the allegations.
The “snoopgate” conversations, purportedly carried out between Shah and a senior Gujarat police official during August and September 2009 , do not specifically mention Modi by name, but the portals claimed a “saheb” referred to in the tapes was the Gujarat chief minister. Pradeep Sharma, an IAS officer suspended by the Gujarat government, has alleged in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that that the woman and Modi had close relations.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was quick to welcome the cabinet decision on Thursday, saying it was overdue as the case involved the violation of Telegraph Act.
While Modi remained silent, the BJP slammed the government for the decision, saying it smacked "political vindictiveness".
"It is a clear case of political vindictiveness, it is a witchhunt...clearly it is the fascist Congress with its emergency mindset that has taken such a decision. BJP shall meet all the challenges and fight at every platform," BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters.
Senior BJP leaders and the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha said the decision would be challenged in the courts. "This action legally is a suspect and liable for challenge. I am sure it will be legally challenged in courts. The setting up of this Commission (of Inquiry) violates the federal structure of the Constitution. It is an affront to the states. I hope other chief ministers also join in the protest against this action."
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