Chidambaram says phone tapping not authorised by govt

Union home minister P Chidambaram today categorically said that no telephone tapping on political leaders was  'authorised' by the government, which was put on mat by a united and furious opposition which stalled Parliament business.

Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were rocked by the phone tapping allegation in a news magazine and adjourned for the day hours ahead of schedule as sparks flew as soon as the two Houses assembled for the day.

A Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the issue was also demanded by the opposition, as members said the alleged action was reminiscent of the Emergency days.

"I wish to state categorically that no telephone tapping or eavesdropping on political leaders was authorised by the previous UPA government. Nor has the present UPA government authorised any such activity," Chidambaram said in the Lok
Sabha trying to assuage the concerns of the agitated opposition members.

The opposition charge in the Lok Sabha was led by senior BJP leader LK Advani who demanded a statement from the prime minister. A similar demand was made by his party colleague Venkaiah Naidu in the Rajya Sabha. Advani demanded passing a law to prevent the government from tapping phones of political leaders.

Chidambaram in his statement read out amidst the din said the report in Outlook magazine on phone tapping was thoroughly inquired into and "nothing has been found in the records of the NTRO (National Technical Research Organisation) to substantiate the allegations."

Responding to Advani's demand, Leader of Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee said the prime minister could make a statement only at 3.30pm as he had a luncheon meeting with visiting Afghan president Hamid Karzai. Otherwise, they should allow
the home minister to make a statement to clarify the issue.

But the opposition members were not satisfied with Mukherjee's statement and continued their protests. Members of the BSP, which is cosying up to the government ahead of the crucial cut motions, were conspicuously silent during the protests.

The news weekly had alleged in an article that the phones of Union minister Sharad Pawar, Congress leader Digvijay Singh, CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had been tapped.

"Further enquiries are being made into the allegations in the magazine. If any evidence is forthcoming or discovered, the matter will be thoroughly investigated by the appropriate agencies," said Chidambaram, who read out an identical statement in the Rajya Sabha.

"We are committed to defend the rights of every Indian citizen, including the right to privacy, and will uphold the rights of the individual citizens enshrined in the Constitution of India," he said.

Rejecting allegations against the NTRO, he said, "It is a technical organisation of the government...The organisation was notified on April 15, 2004" and asserted that intelligence agencies functioned within the law and were "fully accountable" to the government.

Under the Telegraph Act and the IT Act, each case of monitoring of telephones or electronic communications 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 counter-terrorism effort, is subject to multiple checks and oversight," Chidambaram said.

While the BJP in both the Houses went hammer and tongs against the government on the phone tapping issue, the SP and RJD focussed on the IPL issue with Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav personally leading their party members into the well of the Lok Sabha. "This is the biggest scandal in the recent years," the RJD chief remarked of the IPL controveersy.

Demanding a statement from the prime minister, senior BJP leader LK Advani recalled a press conference held on June 25, 1985 to mark 10 years of Emergency in which Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke about phone tapping of leaders like Chandra Shekhar, Jagjivan Ram, Charan Singh and journalists like Kuldeep Nayar and Arun Shourie.

In the Rajya Sabha too, BJP vociferously demanded a joint Parliamentary committee enquiry, with senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu seeking a statement from the prime minister.

Both Houses, which had earlier adjourned twice on the issue with repeated protests by the opposition parties, were adjourned for the day as the protests continued.