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Phone tapping : Centre says sting operation |
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The controversy over the tapping of telephones of Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, continues to rage despite the Centre’s assertion that no political party is involved in the episode and that private parties had undertaken the tapping as part of a sting operation for monetary gains. Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said at a news conference in New Delhi on Jan. 14 that the Centre, Delhi Police and Delhi Government were in no way involved with the sting operation. He also gave a clean chit to the Congress and absolved Sonia Gandhi, under attack from the Samajwadi Party, “I wish to further inform you that there are no indications of any political party or political personality being involved.” Duggal said this was important because often questions have been asked about the involvement of political parties and personalities in the phone tapping.
The Samajwadi Party, however, did not accept the Home Secretary’s clean chit for the Congress and its leader Sonia Gandhi. At a news conference in New Delhi on Jan. 14, Amar Singh dismissed outright Duggal’s claim that his phones had been tapped by a private party, and not by any political party or politician. “I have been saying from day one that the police investigation is Operation Hogwash, because the agencies have done everything to cover up the tapping scam. This is why UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and myself demanded an impartial probe from non-Congress chief ministers, but of course it was not heeded,” he added.
He was backed, this time, by Akali Dal leader Prakash Singh Badal, who said his phone had been tapped too. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was present, announced a parallel probe : “We will run a parallel investigation with the help of the STF....if the situation continues like this, we may even consider reviewing our support to the Centre.”
On the content of the tapes, the SP general secretary said the conversations were hardly of interest. “If my conversation with my female friends is not a matter of national security, why should anybody have the right to breach my privacy?” Singh said.
Mulayam Singh Yadav said that he had asked the State’s special task force to probe the tapping of Amar Singh’s telephones and claimed that the move had been aimed at triggering a confrontation with the Centre. Yadav said he had no faith either in the CBI or Delhi police. He claimed that Duggal had absolved the Central Government under pressure from the Manmohan Singh Government and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Earlier last week, Amar Singh moved the Supreme Court seeking a judicial inquiry into the alleged tapping of his telephones by Delhi Police. There are eight respondents in the petition including the Union Telecommunications and Home Ministries, the Chief secretary of Delhi, the Delhi Police Commissioner and the Congress, through its president Sonia Gandhi, and Reliance Infocomm.
Amar Singh appeared before the Delhi Police special branch in New Delhi on Jan. 13 in connection with the probe. Apart from finding out Amar Singh’s version of the phone-tapping, Delhi Police took his voice samples to match with the tapped conversations.
The Home Ministry, apart from dismissing the charge that Amar Singh’s phones had been tapped at the instance of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has said that Reliance Infocomm is being probed in connection with the incident. Duggal said the purported letters from the Government on the basis of which the service provider proceeded to tap Amar Singh’s phones were riddled with errors and mistakes and clearly looked forged. He said the Department of Telecommunications was probing whether the failure to detect the forgery was deliberate or a case of oversight.
After the controversy over Amar Singh phone tapping broke out, leaders of many parties have come up with claims that their phones are also being tapped. They include BJP leader L.K. Advani, Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
In a move with some significance, Amar Singh met former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh on Friday, Jan. 13. Later Amar Singh alleged that the house and phones of Natwar Singh were bugged and under surveillance.
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