Explained: The Delhi snooping scandal and how AAP’s FBU spied on political rivals

The MHA had recently given sanction to prosecute Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi snooping scandal. Sisodia is also in the news in the Delhi liquor policy case

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on February 17 authorised prosecuting Delhi's Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia in the alleged Feedback Unit (FBU) snooping scandal.

The MHA authorised the prosecution under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The MHA's action came in the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBi) seeking sanction to prosecute Sisodia after its preliminary investigation found that the 'Feedback Unit' was used to undertake political snooping against the political rivals of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

While granting the sanction, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Delhi Vinay Kumar Saxena wrote that the seeds for the establishment of an extra-constitutional, extra-judicial body modelled after a private intelligence organisation and answerable to a single person were planted at the inception.

What is the 'Feedback Unit'

The vigilance divisions, 'Feedback Unit' was set up following the victory of the AAP in the 2015 Delhi elections The FBU was tasked with updating the government on various activities taking place in the ministries, institutions and autonomous bodies under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government.

The FBU came into force after the government lost control over the Anti-Corruption Branch in 2015. In 2019, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan had ruled that the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and by extension, the Centre will have jurisdiction over Delhi's Anti-Corruption Bureau.

The FBU which was established by the Arvind Kejriwal government in 2015 is an extra-constitutional and extra-judicial intelligence agency that became operational in February 2016. A majority of the 17 contract employees part of the FBU were former officers of the Intelligence Bureau and Central Armed Police Forces.

In 2015, the then LG Najib Jung formed a panel to probe the FBU. The panel was formed after it was learnt that Rs 1 crore was allowed to the FBU by Manish Sisodia who also heads the Vigilance Department of the Delhi Government to carry out 'secret services.'

The matter was then referred to the CBI.

The CBI noted that out of the Rs 1 crore allocated to FBU for 'secret service expenditure' only Rs 50,000 was used. The CBI accused Sisodia of diverting these funds to carry out espionage against the political opponents of AAM, members of the judiciary and bureaucrats.

In its Preliminary Enquiry (PE), report, the CBI said that it had analysed the reports prepared by the FBU between February 2016 and September 2016 and found that 40 per cent of the reports were on political intelligence. The rest were vigilant related reports. The agency noted that the formation of the FBU and its operation resulted in the loss of Rs 36 lakh and it is now unclear if the FBU is is operational or not.

In private interest:

The CBI noted that the FBU was operating for some covert goal that was not in the interest of the Delhi government, but rather in private interest of the AAP. The CBI said that Sisodia actively engaged in the formation of the unit.

In his defence, Sisodia called the action as 'cowardly' and adding that fabricating evidence to hurt opponents is a sign of weakness. In a tweet in Hindi, Sisodia said that many more allegations will be made against the AAP.

The BJP on the other hand has demanded the immediate arrest of Sisodia in connection with the snooping scandal.

It may be recalled that Sisodia is also under the scanner in the liquor policy case.