CBI can register case against Delhi deputy CM in 'feedback unit' issue: MHA

NEW DELHI: The Union home ministry has given its go-ahead to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register a regular case against Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia for his alleged role in creating a ‘feedback unit’ in 2015, which is alleged to have digressed from its mandate, collecting “political intelligence”. The unit was purportedly created to gather actionable feedback on the working of various departments and institutions under Delhi government. Sisodia was heading the vigilance department at the time.
The fresh case is set to add to the troubles of Sisodia, already facing a CBI probe relating to alleged favours extended to liquor traders in the formulation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy of 2021-22. He is slated to appear before the CBI in the liquor scam case on February 26.
The home ministry, in a letter sent to the Delhi LG office on February 17, 2023, stated: “In the context of a letter received from directorate of vigilance of Government of NCT of Delhi on 02.02.2023, I am directed to inform that the competent officer has granted approval under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, to the registration of a regular case against Manish Sisodia and its investigation by the CBI. Accordingly, further action may be taken.”
The AAP government had, within months of securing a massive mandate in 2015 assembly polls, allegedly created a feedback unit (FBU) to strengthen the vigilance establishment and gather “relevant and actionable feedback” on the working of various “departments, autonomous bodies, institutions and entities” falling under its jurisdiction and also execute “trap cases”. However, a preliminary inquiry conducted by the CBI on a complaint of an officer of the directorate of vigilance of the Delhi government in 2016, found that the FBU also collected political intelligence related to “political activities of persons, political entities and political issues touching the political interests of AAP”. The FBU, which started functioning on February 1, 2016, was allegedly allocated a Rs 1-crore ‘secret service fund’ and its senior officials would report directly to the chief minister.
There is no clarity on whether the FBU still exists or was eventually disbanded, but the CBI, in its preliminary enquiry (PE) report, stated that the unit probed over 700 cases during the eight months of its “active existence”. Of these, nearly 60% cases were related to political intelligence and issues unrelated to vigilance matters, according to the report.
The PE report was submitted by the CBI to the Delhi government vigilance department on January 12, 2023, seeking approval of the competent authority to register a case against Sisodia under the Prevention of Corruption Act and various sections of Indian Penal Code.
The LG had, in a note prepared while clearing the CBI probe against some officials in the same FBU case, stated that “there seems to be a well-conceived attempt to establish an extraneous and parallel covert agency with overarching powers of snooping and trespass, without any legislative, judicial or executive oversight whatsoever”.