NEW DELHI: A day after Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury served a notice for breach of privilege against IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for allegedly misleading Parliament over the Pegasus issue, more MPs belonging to Congress, Left and Trinamool followed suit on Monday, setting the stage for another confrontation in the two Houses after the presentation of the Union Budget on Tuesday.
“The government is snatching people’s freedom by spying on opposition leaders, judiciary, journalists and bureaucrats,” said Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge after submitting notices for a privilege motion against Vaishnaw along with Congress colleague KC Venugopal, Left MPs Binoy Viswam and V Sivadasan and Trinamool’s Saugata Roy.
All the notices referred to the recent New York Times report that said India bought the Pegasus spyware as part of a $2 billion defence deal that was firmed up during PM Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017 and alleged the government, through the IT minister, had “wilfully misled Parliament” on the issue.
Vaishnaw had, in statements to both Houses during the monsoon session of Parliament last year, asserted that there was "no substance" to the "sensationalism" contained in media reports over surveillance launched on political leaders, judiciary and journalists using the Pegasus spyware.
"The press reports of 18th July 2021 also appear to be an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions," he had said.
Viswam, who had sought to raise the issue in a Parliament question that was not admitted and eventually lapsed, said on Monday that "numerous pieces of evidence have been made public that point towards the government's purchase of Pegasus spyware", despite its efforts to hide the truth.
He said the matter concerns grave allegations of snooping that violate Constitutional rights and safeguards, but "the minister's deliberate attempt to mislead the members of Parliament constitutes a breach of privilege".
Alleging that the Pegasus issue has undermined India's democratic structure and freedom of speech, Kharge also said Congress would discuss the issue with like-minded opposition parties to corner the government over the issue. All opposition parties must "unite and raise the issue of Pegasus" in the House with unanimity, he added.
"The IT minister misled Parliament by stating that Pegasus was not connected with the Indian government. One of the most credible newspapers of the world says the Pegasus deal was done during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Israel. That is why we're moving privilege motion," Venugopal said.
