"Govt. not involved in phone tapping"

After price rise and IPL irregularities, reports of phone tapping of senior political leaders provided ammunition to a united Opposition to corner the government in Parliament, which on Monday witnessed uproar and disruption of proceedings.

Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said in the Lok Sabha that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would make a statement on the issue at 3.30 p.m. but an unrelenting Opposition would have none of it. A statement by Home Minister P. Chidambaram was also drowned in the din. In both Houses, the Opposition members demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations of phone tapping.

While categorically denying tapping or eavesdropping on political leaders, Mr. Chidambaram said neither the previous nor present UPA government authorised any such activity.

“After the issue of the news magazine [Outlook] was available late on April 23, 2010, the allegations in the story were thoroughly enquired into. Nothing has been found in the records of the National Technical Research Organisation [NTRO] or elsewhere to substantiate the allegations,” the Minister said in identical statements in the two Houses. However, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) termed his statement “unconvincing.” Its Polit Bureau demanded an independent probe into the matter so that the truth could be uncovered.

“Fully accountable”

Asserting that the intelligence agencies were fully accountable to the government and that they functioned within the law, Mr. Chidambaram said: “Under the Telegraph Act and the Information Technology Act, each case of monitoring of telephone or electronic communication has to be approved by the Union Home Secretary personally, and is subject to review by an Oversight Committee, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. Such monitoring as may be necessary to fight crime, for national security, or for our counter-terrorism effort, is subject to multiple checks and oversight.”

Reiterating that the government was committed to defending the rights of every citizen, including the right to privacy, and would uphold the rights of the citizen enshrined in the Constitution, the Minister informed Parliament that further enquiries were being made into the allegations made in the magazine. “If any evidence is forthcoming or discovered, the matter will be thoroughly investigated by the appropriate agencies.”

“Extremely serious”

Earlier, as soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, the Opposition demanded suspension of question hour and a statement by the Prime Minister. Senior BJP leader and NDA working chairman L.K. Advani described allegations of phone tapping as “extremely serious” and said the members would not be satisfied until they heard the Prime Minister.

Stating that phone tapping reports smacked of Emergency days, Mr. Advani demanded scrapping of the outdated Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 and protection of the constitutional rights of all citizens. “Let there be a new law, the government cannot abuse its authority. Democracy has to be protected. We want a clear statement by the Prime Minister.”

Raise slogans

With leaders and members of the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal (United) trooping into the well and raising slogans, the House was adjourned twice, and for the day in the afternoon.

However, Bahujan Samaj Party members neither indulged in slogan shouting, nor rushed to the well.

Adjourned thrice

In the Rajya Sabha, members from the Left, the BJP, the Samajwadi Party and the AIADMK did not allow proceedings to go on.

The House was adjourned thrice during the day and even when it reassembled in the afternoon, Opposition members continued with slogan shouting and protests. Amid uproar, Mr. Chidambaram read out his statement.

As Opposition members remained insistent on their demands, Deputy Chairman K. Rehman Khan adjourned the House for the day.