PM Modi Should Give Statement On Pegasus Row In Parliament: P Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should make a statement in Parliament on Pegasus snooping allegations, clarifying whether there had been surveillance or not.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the government should either call for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations or request the Supreme Court to appoint a sitting judge to investigate the matter, and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in Parliament clarifying whether there had been surveillance or not. The former home minister said he was not sure that one can go to the extent of saying that the entire electoral mandate of 2019 was vitiated by the "unlawful snooping" but added that it may have "helped" the BJP to score that victory which has been "tainted" by the allegations. Mr Chidambaram also said a probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) can be more effective than an investigation by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, asserting that the former would be more empowered by Parliament. Asked about Parliament IT panel head Shashi Tharoor's remarks that the subject is "already on the mandate of my committee" and a JPC is not required, Mr Chidambaram expressed doubts whether the IT panel with a majority of BJP members will allow a full investigation into the matter.