Commission finds ex-DVAC chief guilty in phone tapping case

Chennai, Nov 14 (UNI) Mr Justice P Shanmugham, the one man Commission of inquiry appointed by the Tamil Nadu government to go into the telephone tapping incident, has found former DVAC Chief S K Upadhyay guilty of misconduct and recommended Departmental action against him.

The Commission's report tabled in the state Assembly today, also recommended departmental action against three others, including DVAC Special Assistant A Shankar, Sub-Inspector S Prabhakaran and Legal Advisor N Vijayarajan.

It said departmental action should be initiated against former DVAC chief for midsconduct of indirectly allowing leakage of official confidential matter, for negligence and for contravention of telephone rules.

It also recommended that criminal cases be registered against Shankar for unauthorised access of computer and copying of confidential records and information for committing theft and forging electronic records with intention of damaging or injuring the interest of the department, for leakage of official and confidential information.

While also recommending Departmental action against Shankar for misconduct and endangering the security and confidentiality of official communications by unauthorisedly accessing the computer and leaking it to the media, the Commission recommended similar action against Mr Prabhakaran and Vijayarajan for gross negligence and misconduct for allowing the leakage of confidential and official communication to others, the report said.

The Government appointed the one-man Commission after a section of the media published the transcript of the tapped conversation between former Chief Secretary L K Tripathy and Mr Upadhyay with regard to a political case registered against former Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa.

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