The Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena of Delhi recommends to the President of India for prosecution against Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM of Delhi through MHA in the ‘Feedback Unit’ case.
What is ‘Feedback Unit’ case?
The AAP government allegedly established a ‘Feedback Unit’ in 2015. The goal was to strengthen the vigilance establishment and collect feedback on the operations of various government departments, autonomous bodies, or institutions.
In 2016, following a complaint from an officer of the Delhi government’s Directorate of Vigilance, the CBI conducted a preliminary investigation and discovered and collected political intelligence related to political activities of individuals, political entities, and political issues affecting the political interests of the AAP.
The CBI stated in its report that the FBU investigated over 700 cases during its eight months of active existence. According to the preliminary enquiry (PE) report, a rough analysis of the reports it generated revealed that 60% of them were related to political intelligence and issues unrelated to vigilance matters.
On January 12, 2023, the CBI submitted a report to the vigilance department, requesting permission from the competent authority, in this case LG Saxena to file a case against deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who headed the vigilance department, under the Prevention of Corruption Act and various sections of the IPC against Sisodia, for creation and functioning of the feedback unit.
The FBU began operations on February 1, 2016, and was given a “Secret Service Fund” of Rs. 1 crore. Surprisingly, Sinha, a retired CISF deputy inspector general and joint director of the FBU, reported directly to the CM, bypassing the vigilance department.
When asked about the utilization of this fund by a deputy secretary of the vigilance directorate, Sinha, in a communication dated July 29, 2016, to Jain said those were “confidential matters, concerned with the working of the Government of NCT of Delhi, different ministries and departments, the report of which goes directly to the chief minister”.
According to the documents, 18 vouchers totaling Rs.3.5 lakh were spent as “source money” to create intelligence “assets,” with another Rs.2.10 lakh spent on hiring a private detective agency. The CBI, on the other hand, stated in its report that the company denied receiving any money or providing any service to FBU.
The CBI also stated in its report that no action was taken against any public servant or department based on the FBU’s vigilance reports.
“The unlawful manner in which the Feedback Unit was created and operated has resulted in wrongful loss to the government exchequer to the tune of approximately Rs 36 lakhs,” the CBI stated in its PE report.
