Eight months after “leaked” telephone conversations between a Union Minister and Congress leaders in Rajasthan triggered a political disaster within the state and gave rise to allegations of unlawful telephone faucets, the federal government of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has confirmed that telephones have been certainly “intercepted”.
The affirmation, posted on the web site of the Rajasthan Assembly in reply to a query requested of the federal government in the course of the House session of August 2020, flies within the face of earlier assertions each by the federal government and by the Chief Minister personally.
BJP MLA Kalicharan Saraf, who was Health Minister within the authorities of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, had requested: “Is it true that phone tapping cases have come up in the last days? If yes, under which law and on whose orders? Place full details on the table of the House.”
In its reply, given after a delay of a number of months, the federal government has mentioned: “In the curiosity of public security or public order, and to forestall the prevalence of against the law which could danger public security or public order, telephones are intercepted after an approval by a reliable officer beneath the provisions of part 5(2) of The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and part 419 (A) of The Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Rules, 2007, in addition to part 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
“Telephone interception has been done by the Rajasthan Police under the above provision and only after obtaining permission from the competent officer.”
The authorities has not specified the phone numbers that have been intercepted, and the time for which they have been put beneath surveillance. It has solely mentioned that “interception cases are reviewed by Chief Secretary, Rajasthan, who presides [over the meetings] as per rules. All cases till November 2020 have been reviewed.”
Saraf mentioned that he’s but to obtain a written reply from the federal government.
The disaster within the Rajasthan Congress and its authorities started in July 2020 after recordings of telephone conversations amongst Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, then Rajasthan Tourism Minister Vishvendra Singh, and Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma amongst others, have been “leaked”. A day after the audio clips began circulating, the Special Operations Group of the Rajasthan Police used them as the premise for an FIR in opposition to Shekhawat and Sharma amongst others, for allegedly making an attempt to topple the state authorities.
Chief Minister Gehlot had claimed on the time that it was “not the way” of his authorities to faucet the telephones of Ministers and MLAs.
“Dekhiye humare yahan kaayda nahi hota hai ke kisi MLA ka ya mantri ka phone tap karein (It is not our way to tap phones of an MLA or a Minister),” Gehlot had mentioned in an interview with ABP News in July. He had additionally mentioned that he would resign and go away politics if the allegations that the audio clips have been “fake”, have been confirmed to be appropriate.
“Agar main jhoothi tap banwaun logon ki, apne hit ke andar, sarkaar bachane ke liye, toh mera moral adhikar hai kya ke main sarkaar mein bana rahun? (If I get a fake tap made to protect my interests and to save my government, will I have the moral right to continue in government?)” he had mentioned.
Most Congress leaders had evaded questions concerning the alleged faucet. Asked a couple of letter despatched by the Union Home Ministry to the Rajasthan Chief Secretary concerning the alleged interception, Ajay Maken had mentioned on July 19 – a month earlier than he was appointed the celebration’s state in-charge – that he didn’t assume that such actions had been undertaken in violation of the Constitution or the legislation.
That identical day, BJP state president Satish Poonia had advised The Indian Express, “Whatever is happening in Rajasthan is politically motivated… We have been asking questions regarding [phone] tapping but they haven’t answered any.” The BJP had additionally demanded a CBI investigation into the allegations of unlawful tapping.
In August, the Sachin Pilot camp accused Gehlot of tapping the telephones of some MLAs who have been staying at a resort in Jaisalmer.
“Four jammers have been installed at Suryagarh resort by Ajaib Electronics and there is just one place in the entire hotel from where calls can be made,” the Pilot camp had claimed, and launched a doc purportedly displaying an inventory of calls made to some Gehlot camp MLAs, together with Cabinet Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, and MLAs Rohit Bohra, Zahida Khan, Arjun Singh Bamniya, Virendra Singh, and Baljeet Yadav.
The Pilot camp had additionally claimed that calls made via the resort’s intercom system have been being recorded, and supplied an inventory of intercom numbers that have been being allegedly tapped. The total train was being monitored from a resort in Jaipur’s Mansarover locality with “top police officials” and “two private officials of a telecom company”, the Pilot camp had alleged.
However, the police had “clarified” in a press release that “no unit of Rajasthan Police is involved in tapping (phones) of any MLA or MP and nor was it conducted earlier.”
The assertion added that “Even the allegation of recording intercom conversations is untrue and fictitious”, and that “Rajasthan police always works to stop criminal acts and illegal phone tapping is a criminal act”. The police appealed to folks to not take note of “mischievous elements who are spreading rumours due to ill-will and for selfish reasons”.
On October 1, an FIR was filed at Jaipur’s Vidhayak Puri police station in opposition to Pilot’s aide Lokendra Singh and the Rajasthan editor of the information channel Aaj Tak, Sharat Kumar, accusing them of spreading “misleading and fake news” relating to the accusations made in August.
However, in December, Rajasthan Police filed a ultimate report (FR) within the case, saying that the “origin” of the WhatsApp texts on the premise of which the FIR was filed, “could not be established”.
Chief Secretary Niranjan Arya didn’t reply to calls and messages from The Indian Express on Sunday.
