Accused deciding who will investigate: Digvijaya Singh attacks Modi on snooping row
New Delhi: Hitting out at Narendra Modi over snoopgate, Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh on Monday said that the Gujarat government's probe into the matter is like the accused deciding to investigate and sit in judgement and this shows his 'most dictatorial' character.
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Singh, a known detractors of the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, has been taking on Modi ever since the scandal surfaced. In his more than half-a-dozen tweets since November 20, Singh has castigated Modi over snoopgate and Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley for 'defendning snoopgate accused Modi and Amit Shah'.
He also sought to draw a parallel between Modi and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, saying both of them act in similar manner probing matters in which they themselves are accused.
The "Gujarat government ordering a probe (in the snoopgate) is something like accused deciding, who will investigate and who will sit in judgement and, therefore, I have observed that there is a similarity between Arvind Kejriwal and Narendra Modi. If there is a complaint against Kejriwal (his party), he decides who will investigate and who will be the judge.
"Similarly in this case it was Modi, who as Chief Minister, has the Home portfolio and it is at his behest the phones of the lady were tapped. Now he....as a cover up has decided who will investigate and who will sit in judgement in this case. It indicates the most dictatorial sort of character of both the persons," Singh said.
He said that he is of the view that appropriate authorities must investigate the case under Indian Telegraph Act and Information Technology Act and take proper action against anyone, who is accused.
Soon after the controversy had broken out, Singh had tweeted on November 20, "Snoopgate of Gujarat. Why is no one talking about the violation of Telegraph Act and the IT Act? It is Modi where the buck stops not at Amit...Even Amit Shah has confessed it was done at 'Saheb's' instructions. Modi has kept Home with him since 2002! Would Media pl take note of it?"
The Centre has said it will inquire into alleged misuse of state machinery in Gujarat in the wake of alleged "snooping" on a woman from the state allegedly at the behest of Shah.
In a series of tweets, Singh said a few days back: "A new phenomenon in Indian Politics! Accused decides who would investigate and who would adjudicate !Very convenient! Isn't it Dictatorial ! Kejriwal appoints Retd Judge to investigate misappropriation of funds in IAC. Modi appoints Retd Judge and IAS officer to inquire Snoopgate."
In other tweets the same day, he said that the snoopgate was done by the Gujarat police under instructions of Shah while the Home portfolio was with the Chief Minister. "Clinching evidence in Singhal Tapes. Any comments?," he asked.
Attacking Jaitley, who had raised the issue of call detail record case of his phone in the past, Singh reminded him that snooping and phone tapping are punishable by imprisonment under section 25, 24 of the Indian Telegraph Act read with section 66 and 72 of the IT Act.
"Would Arun Jaitley sensitive to encroachment on Privacy pl advise/comment and not hide under the pretext of investigation by the accused ?" Singh, who had attacked Delhi BJP leader Vijay Jolly earlier over the defacement of the house of Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury, also asked in one of his tweets on whether Jolly would "also go and put a black paint on Amit Shah and Modi's gate, name plate and their Car for their involvement in Snoopgate!"
