The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday lodged a new case against jailed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia for suspected corruption in the Delhi government’s Feedback Unit (FBU).
“PM’s plan is to slap several false cases against Manish and keep him in custody for a long period. Sad for the country!” Kejriwal tweeted.
The CBI’s second case, the first being over the national capital’s liquor excise policy, in connection with which Sisodia is now imprisoned, came in response to charges that the AAP in 2015 established a ’special feedback unit’ that unlawfully snooped on competitors and government employees.
The CBI’s FIR on the ‘feedback unit’ case names five more people.
These are; Sukesh Kumar Jain, 1992 batch IRS office who was then Secretary (Vigilance) in Delhi government; Rakesh Kumar Sinha, CISF Deputy Inspector General (retd) who was Kejriwal’s Special Advisor and Joint Director of the unit; Pradeep Kumar Punj, Intelligence Bureau Joint Director and the unit’s Deputy Director; Satish Khetrapal, ex-CISF Assistant Commandant and Gopal Mohan, who was Kejriwal’s Advisor (Anti-Corruption).
Sisodia has been named as the main accused.
On February 22, the union home minister granted the CBI authority to prosecute Sisodia, the minister in-charge of vigilance over suspicions of gathering ‘political intelligence’.
What exactly is the “Feedback Unit Case”?
In 2015, immediately after the AAP won its first full term in Delhi, the new government established a “feedback unit” to collect “actionable input on different ministries, autonomous organisations, institutions, and entities under its jurisdiction,” as well as to investigate corruption cases.
According to the CBI, no cabinet note was moved and no approval was obtained from Najeeb Jung, who was the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi at the time. The CBI claimed that no recruiting standards were established for the positions, and 17 retired people were hired without Jung’s consent.
The team began operations in February 2016, with a budget of one crore from a secret spending fund, according to the CBI, who claims the unit investigated 700 cases in eight months, at least 40% of which were tied to acquiring political intel and spying.
“FBU was wilfully constituted, manned, funded, and incentivized out of public exchequer in an irregular way by Sisodia… in violation of regulations and without requisite permissions, by abuse of their official position, and with a dishonest aim,” according to the CBI in today’s FIR.
A few months later, the FBU was disbanded.
