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Following the Opposition raising the Pegasus spyware issue in the budget session of the Parliament, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi on Monday said there is no scope for a separate discussion on the issue since the matter is sub-judice.
"We have told the opposition that during the first part of the budget session we can only discuss the budget and the presidential address. Therefore, it would not be possible to hold a separate discussion. In any case, the matter is under courts jurisdiction right now," Joshi said. "Whatever needed to be said on the issue was already said by Information and Technology Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw on the floor of the House during the Monsoon Session last year," he added. Several members of the opposition have written to the Lok Sabha Speaker wanting to file a breach of Privilege Motion against the IT Minister. On this, Joshi added, "They can go ahead. It is up to the speaker to admit it or not but there seems to be no merit in this." The Union Minister also said that leaders can raise all possible issues that want while speaking on the Presidential motion and they will be getting a reply from the Prime Minister. Several opposition parties accused the government of perjury on the issue of Pegasus adding that the Centre had lied in Parliament and also to the Supreme Court. MPs from Congress and the Left parties have issued a privilege motion against Union Minister of Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw for "deliberately misleading the House on Pegasus issue". Notably, after the US newspaper report regarding the alleged Pegasus spyware purchase deal surfaced, lawyer ML Sharma moved the Supreme Court seeking direction to register FIR and probe the matter. The petition said the alleged India-Israel deal was not approved by Parliament and, therefore, needs to be cancelled and money recovered. In July 2021, names of several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a news report. However, the Union IT Minister had said there is 'no substance' in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions. (ANI)
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