Two-member team to look into phone tapping charges

Turning tables on BJP, the Maharashtra government on Monday appointed a probe panel to investigate charges of phone tapping against political opponents during the previous regime.

This development has put on spot the then Chief Minister and now Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis, who held the Home portfolio for full five years. The two member probe panel comprises of Shrikant Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of Home department and Amitesh Kumar, Joint Commissioner of State Intelligence Department.

"The probe would be comprehensive and it would also look into the visit of senior officers to Israel," Home Minister Anil Deshmukh told reporters. The panel has been given six week's time to complete the probe from the day it initiates investigation.

He said that after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power, several leaders of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress complained of tapping of their phones during the Vidhan Sabha elections.

When pointed out that the Shiv Sena too was in power in partnership with BJP, he said: "Shiv Sena was a partner in the government but everyone knows who was running the government." Deshmukh said that the power of keeping phones on surveillance and the authority to take out data like call records has been grossly misused during the last year by the then dispensation for vested interest and political gain.

"This abuse of power has serious implications with respect to national security and right to freedom and privacy as enshrined in the Constitution," he said. A brief note on the terms of reference said: "The enquiry should cover not only the legal documentation but also take 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."

It may be recalled that around a week ago, when the controversy broke, Fadnavis had said: "It is not in our culture to tap the phones of political opponents in the state. This is absolutely baseless. The (then) government had never issued any such orders".