Snooping Scandal: Stalked woman's father moves Supreme Court against probe

The father of the woman who was allegedly stalked on the orders of the Gujarat Government, has asked the Supreme Court to stop any investigation by the Centre.

He said a probe into what has made media headlines as "Snoopgate", would violate the privacy of his daughter, who is now married.

The Supreme Court has sent notice to the Centre and Gujarat, and asked them to respond by Friday.

Earlier, Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal confirmed that the government had stopped looking for a judge to head an inquiry into whether Narendra Modi and his government in Gujarat had illegally spied upon the woman, an architect.

"Our allies said it seems like political vendetta. So we have no problem with that. We don't want to give an impression that our government is into political vendetta," Sibal told reporters on Tuesday.

Two key allies -- the NCP and the National Conference -- had objected when the government announced that it would appoint a judge for the "Snoopgate" probe before votes for the national election are counted on May 16.

The BJP had then said the commission will not stand legal scrutiny and a new government would review it.

The Snoopgate scandal erupted with the revelation of phone conversations secretly recorded in 2009 by G.L. Singhal, a former senior police officer in Gujarat. The tapes allegedly establish that a "saheb" or big boss in Gujarat sought information on the movements and phone calls of the woman architect. The Congress alleges that the "sahib" was Mr.Modi.