MHA gives sanction to CBI to prosecute Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in snooping case

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had given its approval to the CBI to prosecute Manish Sisodia in a communication sent to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's Secretariat dated February 17. The CBI had earlier recommended filing an FIR against Sisodia in connection with 'political snooping'.

New Delhi : In a fresh blow to Delhi's AAP government, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given sanction to prosecute Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act in the snooping case. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the feedback unit (FBU) of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has done political snooping.

The MHA had given its approval to the CBI to prosecute Manish Sisodia in a communication sent to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's Secretariat dated February 17. This took place after LG Saxena had approved the CBI's request for prosecution sanction and forwarded the same to the MHA earlier. The CBI has said that under Sisodia as the vigilance head, Delhi government, the FBU was illegally created in 2015 to allegedly spy on various other political parties, entities and individuals.

As per the CBI, the AAP government's FBU snooping unit had no legal or constitutional sanction and it was managed by close aides who directly reported to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. A case has been filed pertaining to unaccounted expenditure made by the Delhi government in the name of secret services fund.

The CBI alleged that the FBU unit was set up without any formal agenda circulated at the Cabinet nor was sanction taken from the LG and, eventually, the Feedback Unit ended up collecting intelligence information along political lines, the central agency has said in a report. The CBI had also recommended filing an FIR against the Delhi Deputy CM Sisodia in connection with 'political snooping'.