MUMBAI: Home minister Anil Deshmukh on Sunday set up a two member committee comprising additional chief secretary Shrikant Singh and Joint Commissioner (Intelligence) Amitesh Kumar to probe into allegations of phone tapping of leading politicians, particularly Congress and NCP during the 2019 Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
“Home minister Anil Deshmukh has directed the additional chief secretary (home) Sanjay Kumar to immediately set up the committee comprising Shrikant Singh and Amitesh Kumar. The probe must be completed within six weeks, the committee has been given liberty to induct officers and technical experts as per the requirement,’’ a senior bureaucrat told TOI.
The bureaucrat said ever since Deshmukh took over the reins of the home department, he has been receiving complaints from political parties and prominent leaders regarding misuse of phone tapping by the previous government, which appears to be very serious. “It was brought to the notice of the Home minister that the powers of gathering call data records and phone tapping was grossly misused during the previous government for political gains and vested interest. The abuse of power has serious implications with respect to national security and right to freedom and privacy as enshrined in the constitution of India,’’ he said.
Under such circumstances, the government felt that a comprehensive and broad based probe was essential. “The inquiry should cover not only legal documents, but also take support of technical experts to decipher if unofficial surveillance has been carried out by tracing the foot-print in the servers of various telecom companies through physical verification and visit,’’ the bureaucrat said.
“Home minister Anil Deshmukh has directed the additional chief secretary (home) Sanjay Kumar to immediately set up the committee comprising Shrikant Singh and Amitesh Kumar. The probe must be completed within six weeks, the committee has been given liberty to induct officers and technical experts as per the requirement,’’ a senior bureaucrat told TOI.
The bureaucrat said ever since Deshmukh took over the reins of the home department, he has been receiving complaints from political parties and prominent leaders regarding misuse of phone tapping by the previous government, which appears to be very serious. “It was brought to the notice of the Home minister that the powers of gathering call data records and phone tapping was grossly misused during the previous government for political gains and vested interest. The abuse of power has serious implications with respect to national security and right to freedom and privacy as enshrined in the constitution of India,’’ he said.
Under such circumstances, the government felt that a comprehensive and broad based probe was essential. “The inquiry should cover not only legal documents, but also take support of technical experts to decipher if unofficial surveillance has been carried out by tracing the foot-print in the servers of various telecom companies through physical verification and visit,’’ the bureaucrat said.
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