Himachal Pradesh government has denied the allegations of former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, widely published in all leading daily newspapers, in which he had alleged that the Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was influencing the investigation into phone tapping.
State Govt’s spokesman stated that the Hard Discs from the offices of CID and State Vigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (SV&ACB) were seized strictly in accordance with law to ascertain whether telephone interceptions were carried out in accordance with the Indian Telegraph Act or not. The Hard Discs so seized were sent for analysis by a team of State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL), Junga which was duly constituted by the Government. After the SFSL submitted its report, the preliminary enquiry on the matter was conducted by SV &ACB. This enquiry prima-facie revealed that there was violation of The Indian Telegraph Act. The SV & ACB then sought permission from the H.P. Government to register a regular F.I.R. in the matter which was lodged on 26th June, 2013 and the case was being investigated by the SV & ACB.
He said that it was entirely misleading to allege that the Chief Minister was influencing the investigations. He said that SV&ACB functions with complete autonomy when it comes to investigation of cases. He said that there was no interference of the Government in the investigation being carried out by SV & ACB. The outcome of the investigation would also be subject to scrutiny by a competent Court of Law, he added.
The official spokesman said that all action taken in the matter had been strictly in accordance with the law. The allegations being made were false and an attempt to subvert the due process of law.
Earlier, leader of opposition Prem Kumar Dhumal had blamed Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for “influencing” the probe into the infamous phone-tapping case and had demanded an independent probe by sitting High Court judge into the matter.
