BackGovt drops move to name judge to head snoopgate probe
Kapil Sibal and Sushilkumar Shinde had told the media that a judge would be named before 16 May into the surveillance, which was dubbed as 'snoopgate'
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New Delhi: Hot on the heels of a stiff opposition from allies, government on Monday decided to drop its move to name a judge to head the Commission set up to probe the snooping of a young woman by Gujarat police allegedly at the instance of chief minister Narendra Modi.
“We have left the decision on appointing a judge to the next government," government sources said a day after two United Progressive Alliance (UPA) constituents Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) and National Conference openly opposed the move in the “dying days" of UPA-II.
A controversy had broken out last week when senior ministers—Kapil Sibal (law) and Sushilkumar Shinde (Home)—told the media that a judge would be named into the surveillance, which was dubbed as ‘snoopgate’, before 16 May when the counting of votes in the Lok Sabha elections will be taken up.
The announcement came under severe attack from the Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP) which slammed the UPA saying it was practising vendetta out of desperation of defeat in the elections.
BJP questioned the move now saying the original decision of the cabinet was taken in December and they could not decide on a judge all these days.
The party also questioned the need for such a probe when the state government itself had ordered a commission of inquiry into the same subject.
However, what apparently took the government by surprise was the opposition from its allies On Sunday, NCP leader Praful Patel had said: “When the results of the Lok Sabha elections are due in two weeks’ time, where is the need for such an enquiry." PTI
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