India's Home Ministry has given the green light to the prosecution of Delhi Deputy State Chief Manish Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act in a Feedback Unit snooping case, local media reported on Wednesday.
Last week, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved a request by the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) to file a case against Sisodia. The CBI - the federal inquiry agency - suspects that the vigilance department of Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government set up a Feedback Unit (FBU) in September 2015, which collected political intelligence.
However, the intelligence unit says Delhi State Chief Arvind Kejriwal approved the FBU without a cabinet note. And the Delhi government staffed the unit with 17 contractual employees, mostly retired from the intelligence bureaux, and paramilitary forces.
Meanwhile, Sisodia tweeted: "Filing false cases against your competitors is a sign of a weak and cowardly person. As the Aam Aadmi Party grows, many other cases will be filed."
Strained Relationship Between AAP and BJP
AAP politicians, on various occasions, have accused the federally ruling BJP of filing "bogus" complaints against them because the AAP is challenging the BJP in other states.
The AAP has called the allegations against Sisodia "completely bogus and politically motivated".
"Out of 163 cases registered against us by different intelligence agencies, about 134 have been dismissed by the courts. And, even in the rest of the cases, nothing consequential has been proved," the AAP stated earlier.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Delhi unit has blamed the Kejriwal-led AAP government of snooping on various people, including judges.
The head of the BJP's Delhi chapter, Virendra Sachdeva, said: "The Kejriwal government formed the FBU to keep an eye on political opponents, including the union minister, media houses, businessmen and the judges. This unit was given the task of political espionage which was illegal and unethical.”