Cong MPs slam BJP's walkout from Parl IT panel meet; claim 'Pegasus a no-go for Centre'

As BJP MPs boycotted the Parliamentary IT panel meeting on Pegasus row, Opposition MPs slammed the denial of quorum. Taking to Twitter, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram on Thursday, claimed that while the panel members had denied quorum, the witnesses from MHA and MeiTY refused to appear making up excuses. Terming Pegasus a 'no-go' area for the government, Chidambaram jr claimed that the BJP wanted to expunge Pegasus from any debate, scrutiny or enquiry.

Opposition MPs slams BJP MPs' walkout in Parl IT panel

Similarly, TMC MP Mahua Moitra too pointed out that no quorum had been established as 17 of 30 members had walked out of the meeting. Bristling at this blocking, Manish Tewari said that the three Union secretaries were in contempt of House for ducking a Standing committee meeting. He suggested that 100-150 MPs must file a joint Article 32 petition in SC and demand a court-monitored probe into the alleged snooping.

BJP MPs seeks Tharoor's removal

On Wednesday,  all 17 BJP members of the Parliamentary IT Committee boycotted the session where MHA & IT ministry officials were summoned over the Pegasus probe. Due to the absence of a quorum in the 30-member panel, the meeting had to be postponed. Moreover, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey claimed that 17 out of 30 members have lost trust in Tharoor and hence seek his removal. Tharoor stated that the matter was being undertaken under the subject of Citizens Data Privacy and Security which is an approved agenda item of the committee and earlier discussions on the Pegasus issue in November-December last year were held.

The parliamentary panel led by Shashi Tharoor summoned officials of the Ministry of Information Technology & Ministry of Home Affairs for questioning the Pegasus allegations amid the Opposition's demand for debate in Parliament over the alleged snooping. The Tharoor-led anel has already been probing into snooping allegations using Pegasus via Whatsapp since 2020. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi and several other MPs have given adjournment notices to debate the Pegasus snooping issue. Parliament has been in constant ruckus, leading to multiple adjournments as the Opposition has demanded to debate the issue.

Pegasus row

A report by sixteen media houses claimed that 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers were allegedly spied upon using Israeli surveillance technology firm Pegasus - which only has 36 vetted governments as its clients. As per a 'leaked' database, numbers of those allegedly spied upon include over 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving cabinet ministers, current and former heads, and officials of security organizations and businessmen. The target also includes the eight activists currently accused of the Bhima Koregaon case. The report claimed that the leaked numbers mainly belong to ten countries - India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. While Centre has refuted all allegations, two pleas have been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an SC-monitored probe into the allegations.