File photo of Amit Shah, one of the people accused in the snooping row
Terming the two-member inquiry commission constituted by the Gujarat government over alleged snooping on a woman by police, as an eyewash, state Congress today dubbed it as "Save Modi Commission".
"A thief who steals, himself decides the investigating officer to nab the accused," Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia said, reacting to the constitution of the commission.
"Instead of handing over the probe to a sitting judge of Supreme Court or lodging a complaint, a 'Save Modi Commission' has been constituted to cover-up the entire incident," he alleged.
Mr Modhwadia said that when call details (photocopies of telephone bills) of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley had been illegally accessed, the BJP did not allow Lok Sabha to function for three days.
Delhi Police had nabbed the person and his accomplices who had accessed Mr Jaitley's calls and put them behind bars.
"But, in this case, the woman's phone, her relatives' phone calls and suspended IAS officer Pradeep Sharma's phone conversations were tapped. Despite the serious allegation, no FIR has been lodged," he said.
"The contracts of state government were awarded to the woman and her family members illegally," he alleged.
Gujarat government had last week denied that it had any role in awarding contracts to a company owned by the brothers of the woman who was being "illegally" stalked by state police.
Under attack over alleged snooping on a woman by Gujarat police, the Modi government last night appointed a two-member Commission of Inquiry headed by a retired woman judge of the Ahmedabad High Court.
Retired Justice Sugnaben Bhatt of Gujarat High Court and former Additional Chief Secretary Home K C Kapoor have been asked to conduct an inquiry into the entire incident and submit a report within three months.
Two investigative news portals, Cobrapost.com and Gulail.com had claimed on November 15 that Mr Modi's close aide Amit Shah had ordered illegal surveillance of a woman at the behest of one "Saheb".
They had released taped conversations between Mr Shah and IPS officer G L Singhal to support their claim, but said that its authenticity could not be confirmed.
Civil society organisations and opposition Congress had raised a furore over the alleged snooping incident and demanded a CBI inquiry.
BJP had defended the action of the Modi government by saying that father of the woman in question had demanded the protection for her.
The father of the woman had also written a letter to the National Commission of Women (NCW) saying that it was his daughter wished for no further probe, as is being politically demanded.