New Delhi: In the ongoing controversy over Pegasus spyware, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi on Monday said that there is no scope for a separate discussion in the ongoing budget session of Parliament.
After the opposition raised his voice on the issue, Prahlad gave his statements during the virtual all-party meeting. “We have told the opposition that during the first part of the budget session we can only discuss the budget and the President’s address. Therefore, it will not be possible to hold a separate discussion. In any case, the matter is within the jurisdiction of the court. Now,” Joshi said.
Many parties have raised the issue of Pegasus. We have made it clear that the Supreme Court-appointed committee is looking into the matter and budget-related issues should be raised (in the first part of the budget session): Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi pic.twitter.com/1o7iryA58C
— ANI (@ANI) 31 January 2022
“Whatever needs to be said on this issue, information and technology minister Ashwini Vaishnav had already said it on the floor of the House during the monsoon session last year,” he said.
Members of the opposition have also written to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, seeking registration of a breach of privilege motion against the IT minister.
To this Joshi further said, “They can go ahead. It is up to the speaker whether he accepts it or not, but there is no merit in it.
The statements came in the aftermath of the Pegasus snooping issue, with opposition claiming that the Center had allegedly purchased the Israeli spyware Pegasus in 2017.
Congress and Left MPs have issued a privilege motion against Vaishnav for “deliberately misleading the House on the Pegasus issue”.
Speaking at the recently concluded all-party meeting, Joshi said that 25 parties participated in the meeting.
The Modi-led government held an all-party meeting to discuss the issues and legislative work for the upcoming budget session. Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh presided over the meeting.
The Union Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1 at 11 am. The first part of the budget session will be held from February 2 to February 11. Then, there will be a break of about a month till the second part. The session will start from March 14 and end on April 8.
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