Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the government should either probe a joint parliamentary committee into the Pegasus espionage allegations or request the Supreme Court to appoint a sitting judge to probe the matter, and demanded that Prime minister Narendra Modi Make a statement in Parliament explaining whether surveillance was done or not. The former home minister said he was not sure that one could go to the extent of saying that the entire election mandate of 2019 was tainted by “illegal espionage”, but added that it would help the BJP “get the victory”. help”, which have been “stigmatized” by the allegations.
In an interview, Chidambaram also said that a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) could be more effective than a probe by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, adding that the former would be given more authority by Parliament. Asked about Parliament IT panel chief Shashi Tharoor’s remarks that the matter is already on the mandate of my committee and JPC is not required, Chidambaram expressed doubts whether the IT panel comprising majority of BJP members matters. will allow a full investigation. “The rules of the Parliamentary Committee are rather strict. For example they cannot take evidence openly, but a JPC can be empowered by Parliament to take evidence publicly, cross-examine witnesses and summon documents. Therefore I think a JPC will have far more powers than a parliamentary committee,” he said.
He also said that he is not diluting the role of the parliamentary committee to the extent it can investigate the matter and is welcome to do so. Last Sunday, an international media association reported that more than 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers, including two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders, and several businessmen and activists in India were exposed to hacking through India’s Pegasus spyware. involved, can be targeted. Israeli firm NSO.
The government has been rejecting all the allegations of the opposition in this matter. On the government’s response to the allegations, Chidambaram cited IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnav’s statement in Parliament that he is clearly a very “clever minister” and hence the statement is “very clever”. The Congress leader said, “He (Vaishnav) denies that there was any unauthorized surveillance. He does not deny that there was surveillance. He does not deny that there was authorized surveillance. Certainly the minister has authorized surveillance and unauthorized surveillance. Know the difference between monitoring.” .
Raising questions for the government, he asked whether there was surveillance at all and whether there was espionage through Pegasus. “If Pegasus spyware was used, who got it? Was it acquired by the government or any of its agencies,” he asked.
The Rajya Sabha member also asked the government to come clean on the amount paid for acquiring the spyware. “These are simple, straightforward questions that the average citizen is asking and the minister should answer directly. Eventually, France ordered an investigation when it was discovered that President (Emmanuel) Macron’s number was one of the hacked numbers. Israel itself has ordered an investigation by its National Security Council.” If the two big countries can order a probe, why not India order an investigation and find answers to four simple questions, he asked rhetorically. Chidambaram said the matter also raises issues of national security, because if the government says that it did not monitor, then the question arises as to who did the spying.
“Was it a rogue agency in India doing this without the knowledge of the government or was it a foreign agency hacking Indian telephones without the knowledge of the government. Either way… It’s a more serious matter than that.” he said. Asked whether the opposition’s demand for the Supreme Court to be monitored and whether the apex court should take suo motu cognizance of it, Chidambaram said he would not like to comment on what the court can do or not, but said first There is only one. PIL filed by one or two persons separately, asking it to take suo motu cognizance of Pegasus disclosures. “As the case may be, the government should either request the Parliament to constitute the JPC or the government should request the Supreme Court to drop an honorable judge to investigate,” he said.
Asked about Home Minister Amit Shah’s claim that the allegations were aimed at humiliating India globally, Chidambaram said the Home Minister chose his words very carefully and did not deny that there was surveillance. He said, “He (Shah) does not deny that some telephones were hacked in India using Pegasus software. So, in fact, what he did not say, rather than what the Home Minister said, was more important,” he said. Chidambaram said if the Home Minister could not categorically deny that spyware had infiltrated Indian telephones, he should obviously take responsibility for the “scam” under his watch. Asked about the impasse in Parliament on the issue and calls by opposition parties that the PM should make a statement on the Pegasus issue, he said Modi should have made the statement on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament when the allegations surfaced. .
“There are only a few agencies that could have done this surveillance. All the agencies are under the control of the prime minister,” he said. “Each minister knows only what is under his department. The PM knows what is happening under all the departments. So, it is the prime minister who comes forward and says whether there was surveillance or not and if there was monitoring then whether it was authorized Was or not,” said Chidambaram.
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