A Correspondent mailbag@ mid- day. com A TEAM of a senior IAS and IPS officers each has been readied to probe the alleged phone- tapping of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP leaders during the 2019 Assembly polls.
The probe will try to find out the officers and political leaders who were allegedly involved in the act within six weeks, said Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Devendra Fadnavis, the then CM, headed the home department, which the leaders ( whose phones were u2018 tappedu2019) have accused of issuing orders to derive political advantage.
u201c Shrikant Singh, additional chief secretary of Home department, and Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of State Intelligence Department, have been asked to submit a report within six weeks,u201d said Deshmukh adding that the probe would also look into the visit of senior officers to Israel. He said after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power, several Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress leaders complained of their phones being tapped during the Vidhan Sabha elections.
When pointed out that the Shiv Sena was part of the previous government, he said, u201c everyone knows who was running and dominating the governmentu201d. Deshmukh said the power of keeping phones on surveillance and the authority to access data like call records has been grossly misused last year for political gain.
u201c This abuse of power has serious implications for national security and right to freedom and privacy as enshrined in the Constitution,u201d he said.
A brief note on the terms of reference of the probe said, u201c The inquiry should cover not only the legal documentation but also take the support of technical experts to decipher if unofficial surveillance has been carried out by tracing the footprint in the servers of various telecom companies through physical verification and visits.u201d On the backdrop of an acid attack on a teacher in Wardha district, Deshmukh said he proposed to have a law like Andhra Pradesh where crimes against women are tried within 21 days. It takes seven days to investigate and 14 days to hold a trial.
u201c I will personally meet the AP home minister and law minister to get acquainted with the law and its formation,u201d he said, adding that Mondayu2019s attack was heinous and the accused was arrested immediately.
u201c We will ensure that the accused who injured the teacher seriously gets a harsh punishment,u201d he said.
u2018 This abuse of power has serious implications with respect to national security and right to freedom and privacy as enshrined in the Constitutionu2019 Anil Deshmukh, home minister Team to probe alleged phone tapping during Assembly polls Two- member team of an IAS and IPS officer will submit probe report to home minister in six weeks; ex- CM accused of misusing power
