Name those whose phones were tapped during Dhumal regime, says Shanta

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 26

Former Himachal Chief Minister Shanta Kumar today demanded that names of 1,385 persons whose phones were tapped during the previous BJP government in the state be made public.

His statement comes days after an audio CD, allegedly containing conversations of a senior Cabinet minister, rocked the state.

“With this, the government is intruding into the private lives of everyone. It bothers not only the persons whose phones have been tapped but also their friends and relatives,” Kumar told The Tribune on phone today.

“The possibility of my phone being tapped cannot be ruled out. I strongly feel that the details of persons who did not pose threat to national security and are not involved in any criminal or anti-national activity be provided immediately to end the suspense,” the veteran BJP leader said. After coming to power in December 2012, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had ordered seizure of all records pertaining to phone tapping. It was reportedly found that phones of 1,385 persons were tapped under the Prem Kumar Dhumal government but their details had not been made public even after 31 months of the finding.

“I had, in the past too, vouched for a clean and transparent private life of public figures. No one has the right to intrude into the privacy of any citizen on any pretext whatsoever,” Kumar said.

It is suspected that phones of not only Congress leaders but leaders of other political parties had also been tapped between January 2009 and December 2012. The state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau has completed the probe into the case and also filed the challan in the court.