After disrupting Parliament proceedings for the nine day in a row while seeking a much-needed debate on the Pegasus snooping scandal, the Opposition parties are likely to approach the Supreme Court seeking an independent probe into the telephone tapping saga.
“The Pegasus issue is a very serious security concern for the nation. The Opposition is planning to approach the Supreme Court for unbiased and fair investigations in the Pegasus snooping case,” sources said.
The move comes amid repeated allegations by the BJP that the Opposition parties were not allowing the Parliament to function.
“The Opposition parties are responsible for not allowing both Houses of Parliament to transact any business. The disruption in Parliament has resulted in a loss of over Rs 133 crore of taxpayers’ money,” the BJP had alleged.
Many Opposition parties have decided to approach the apex court, instead of raising the Pegasus issue in the Parliament during the ongoing Monsoon Session. Opposition parties have also decided to change their agenda in Parliament from Monday. “From this week we have decided to raise issues like inflation, hike in fuel prices, unemployment and Covid mismanagement in Parliament,” sources added.
Earlier, Opposition parties including the Congress, demanded a court-monitored probe into the Pegasus issue. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will be hearing a clutch of petitions seeking a special investigation into the matter on Thursday. On Friday, the court agreed to hear the plea of senior journalist N Ram seeking an independent probe by a sitting or a retired judge into the Pegasus snooping scandal.
A two-judge Bench consisting of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant will be hearing the petitions.
Other petitions by senior journalist Sashi Kumar and CPM’s Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas will also be heard on Thursday.
A Bench headed by the Chief Justice took note of the submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Ram and veteran scribe Sashi Kumar, that the petition has been filed and numbered and needed to be heard in view of the large ramifications of the alleged snooping. “We will list it sometime in next week,” the CJI said.