BJP, Congress say CBI should probe FBU snooping scandal from sedition and internal security angles

PTI, Mar 16, 2023, 5:49 PM IST

The BJP welcomed the CBI’s FIR against former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with an alleged snooping scandal related to the Delhi government’s Feedback Unit (FBU) and demanded that the agency book Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as well.

The Congress demanded that the accused in the snooping scandal be booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, saying it was an internal security issue.

Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva said this is a serious issue and the agency should probe it from the angle of sedition.

”I believe it’s a matter of sedition. Was it that the information of the Feedback Unit was being shared with any foreign power. The agency should also probe if the FBU was getting funds from foreign countries,” he said.

Sachdeva said some people with affiliation to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) like the special advisor to the chief minister were in the FBU which raised suspicion over its motive, he said.

”We believe not only Manish Sisodia and some officers but Kejriwal also played a key role in functioning of the FBU and the agency should also book and arrest him,” Sachdeva said.

Delhi Congress vice president Ali Mehndi said his party had been raising this issue for the past six months.

There should be a thorough investigation into the Feedback Unit case as people should know what exactly happened when it was functioning, he said.

”We think UAPA should be slapped in this case because it is a matter of internal security. A state government cannot simply have such a snooping unit and it is rather a prerogative of the central government,” he said.

Sisodia, who is currently in jail in connection with an alleged liquor policy scam, was booked by the CBI in a fresh case related to alleged misuse of official position and using the city government’s Feedback Unit for ”political snooping”, officials said Thursday.

The agency has booked Sisodia, a 1992-batch IRS officer Sukesh Kumar Jain who was then secretary of vigilance, retired CISF DIG Rakesh Kumar Sinha who was working as special advisor to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and joint director in the Feedback Unit, they said.

The BJP and the Congress have alleged that the FBU was being used by the AAP government to collect political intelligence about its opponents.