New Delhi: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari on Friday demanded that the Aam Aadmi Party be punished severely for allegedly violating the privacy of city residents by tapping into their phones, reported news agency PTI. Tiwari claimed during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha that the Delhi government is tapping the phone calls of Delhi residents as well as visitors to the national capital in the name of feedback.
Tiwari stated, "This is a breach of our fundamental right."
According to the BJP MP for northeast Delhi, a feedback unit established by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tapped the phone calls.
Tiwari demanded an investigation into the matter, stating, India is becoming a superpower... the question here is whether the Aam Aadmi Party government is also sharing the data it is gathering through illegal surveillance."
While talking to the media earlier, Tiwari had said that Manish Sisodia was caught spying on political leaders on the pretext of operating a Feedback Unit in 2015. "Instead of doing developing Delhi, illegal spying was being done using taxpayers' money. Investigating agencies have caught it and now the process of registering a case against Deputy CM Manish Sisodia is starting," Tiwari had said.
The feedback unit was a system to gather relevant information and actionable feedback concerning the working of the various departments and autonomous bodies, institutions and entities under the jurisdiction of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). The unit began operations in 2016 with a provision of Rs 1 crore for "secret service expenditure".
However, the CBI has alleged that the Arvind Kejriwal-led government "in addition to collecting the mandated information, gathered political data". It also said that the unit did not have the Lieutenant Governor's sanction. The CBI further alleged that 60% of the information that the FBU gathered was about vigilance and corruption while the rest was political intelligence.