Government yet to declare name of judge who will probe snoopgate

NEW DELHI: Nearly two months after its announcement, the government has failed to name a retired judge who will head a judicial commission to probe into the snooping scandal allegedly involving Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Official sources said a panel of three retired judges have been selected but so far no announcement has been made by the government, raising speculation that they too might have turned down the offer.

Earlier a few judges, including a retired Chief Justice of a High Court, were approached by the government to take up the assignment, but all of them are said to have turned down the offer describing the case as "highly political".

As the Lok Sabha election is approaching and Modi is BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, the sources said, the government is facing difficulty in finding a judge who would be willing to head the judicial commission of inquiry into the charges.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has, however, denied that no judge is willing to head the inquiry but admitted "some problems" in announcing the name of the retired judge.

On January 10, Shinde had said that a judge to head the judicial commission would be announced "within a day or two".

But more than a month after the Home Minister's statement, no announcement has been made regarding the name of the judge.

On December 26, 2013, the Central government had declared appointment of a Commission of Inquiry into the "snooping" on a woman in Gujarat allegedly at the behest of Modi.