Centre defends clubbing of Gujarat snoopgate and other cases

NEW DELHI: The central government on Monday defended its decision to probe the Gujarat snooping issue after combining it with a phone-tapping case in Himachal Pradesh and another involving BJP leader Arun Jaitley, with a Home Ministry official saying it was taken on merit.

The response came after the BJP alleged that the government has violated the federal structure by ordering a commission to probe the cases.

Under Section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, if a state government has set up an inquiry, the Centre cannot order another probe into the same matter unless it is of opinion that the scope of the inquiry should be extended to two or more states.

With the Gujarat government already setting up a two-member commission on November 26 to go into the alleged snooping of a woman architect by state officials, the Centre could not have ordered another commission unless it brought similar issues from other states into the panel’s ambit, which was exactly what the government did.

Referring to the Jaitley case, the Home Ministry official said since the matter has already been considered by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee and a charge-sheet filed by the police, the commission will likely dig deeper or highlight specific steps to avoid repeat of such episodes.

He also pointed out Jaitley's complaint that the police had not been able to get to the mastermind .