Did Delhi Police ignore OSA in NSCS syping case?

Was the sensitive National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) syping case of 2006 investigated by an under-ranked officer of the Special Cell of Delhi Police?

New Delhi: Was the sensitive National
Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) syping case of 2006
investigated by an under-ranked officer of the Special Cell of
Delhi Police?

The investigations in the case began in June 2006, when
a system analyst of the secretariat S S Paul was arrested on
the allegations of passing sensitive information to an
American diplomat Rosanna Minchew who was posted here.

It was followed by arrests of RAW official Brigadier
Ujjal Dasgupta and a former Navy Official Commander Mukesh
Saini, who was then working with Microsoft.

The arrested trio were booked under the Official Secrets
Act (OSA), which makes it mandatory that only an official of
the rank of Inspector or above can demand information from
suspects.

The law also lays down that the name of the person
should be properly notified by the Commissioner or Inspector
General of the Police (IGP).

However, the investigations in the case were done by the
then Sub-Inspector Sajjan Singh of Special Cell.

Singh neither held the rank nor the authority to carry
probe in such a sensitive matter, alleges Saini who served
nearly four years in Tihar Jail as an undertrial. During the
course of trial, Saini filed more than 150 RTI applications to
prepare his defence. He fought his own case and got bail on
May 18, 2010.

The RTI replies received by Saini show the then Delhi
Police Commissioner K K Paul, exercising his powers under the
provisions of the Act, had "empowered" Inspector Rajinder
Singh of the Special Cell to demand any information relating
any offence or suspected offences under the law.

The authorisation was withdrawn on September 22, 2006,
almost three months after the arrests in the case were made.

But contrary to the authorisation entrusted to Inspector
Rajinder Singh, investigation, searches and arrests in the
case were made by sub-inspector Sajjan Singh.

The searches were made on Saini`s house in Delhi
Cantonment area on June 11, 2006, the day when Paul was taken
into custody. Saini was in United States and returned to India
after getting news about the developments.

He was arrested on the intervening night of June 30 and
July 1. Just before his arrest, Sajjan Singh went to NSCS
office and met Director Vinod Kumar Mall for nearly two and
half hours, the RTI reply from NSCS said.

PTI

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