Pegasus row: Mamata announces inquiry commission, WB 1st state to order probe

As Banerjee made the announcement to up the ante over the Pegasus spyware row in a surprise development that came shortly before the Trinamool Congress(TMC) supremo headed to New Delhi, the Congress claimed that the entire opposition is ''united'' in demanding a discussion on the snooping row in Parliament.

The Congress also said the opposition wants a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into the entire scandal while a party leader Shashi Tharoor indicated that opposition parties would continue to disrupt Parliament's proceedings until the government agrees to a debate.

Former chief justice of Calcutta High Court Jyotirmay Bhattacharya and ex-Supreme Court judge Madan Bhimrao Lokur will be the two members of the Commission of Inquiry(CoI) announced by the West Bengal government.

''Sometimes, you need to wake up some people when they are sleeping. I believe that this small step taken by us (West Bengal government) will awaken others... I will request Justice Bhattacharya and Lokur saheb to immediately start the investigation,'' said Banerjee, who had last week accused the Modi government of trying to establish a ''surveillance state''.

The chief minister said West Bengal had hoped that the Centre would form an inquiry commission or a court-monitored probe would be ordered to look into the phone-hacking incident.

''But the Centre is sitting idle... So we decided to form a Commission of Inquiry to look into the matter. West Bengal is the first state to take a step in this matter.'' Banerjee said the state Cabinet approved the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry in exercise of power conferred by Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act of 1952 in the matter of widely reported illegal hacking, monitoring, putting under surveillance, tracking and recording of mobile phones of various persons in West Bengal.

Banerjee said the panel will try to find out who all are involved in hacking the phones and how are they doing it. Also, it is important to look into the steps that have been taken to stop this illegal activity, she told a press conference in Kolkata before leaving for New Delhi, where she is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the Commission of Inquiry Act, both the Centre and states can institute a probe.

Chief Minister Banerjee's move is likely to be seen as an attempt by her to force the Centre's hand to order a wider probe as the potential targets in the list include people from several states.

''Names of people from West Bengal have figured on the Pegasus target list. There are journalists from West Bengal whose phones have been tapped. We also need to find out who all in the judiciary got affected by this spyware,'' she added.

According to reports, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, a nephew of the chief minister, and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among the potential targets of the spyware during the assembly elections in West Bengal.

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were repeatedly disrupted before being called off for the day as opposition members protested over the alleged phone-tapping and other issues and demanded discussions on them in the House.

Amid the uproar, the Lok Sabha passed two bills as the government pushed its legislative agenda.

These are the first two bills to be passed by the Lok Sabha in the Monsoon session which began on July 19. The House has seen repeated disruptions over the alleged Pegasus spying allegations, fuel price hike and three new agri laws since the session started.

As soon as the House met at 3 pm after repeated adjournments during the day, Lok Sabha took up the Factoring Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, and the National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2021, separately.

A discussion on the two bills could not take place as Opposition members continued to stage protests.

Amid the din in the Rajya Sabha, Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said he has not allowed notices under Rule 267 by opposition leaders including from Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal (both Congress), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), TMC's Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Elamaram Kareen (CPI) and others as the issues they want to raise are being discussed in the normal course of time.

Rule 267 provides for setting aside the business of the day to take up discussion on the issue being sought to be raised.

Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, met several opposition leaders in the morning in his chamber and had decided to give a notice under Rule 267 for holding a discussion on the Pegasus issue.

''The entire Opposition is united. Have a discussion on Pegasus snooping issue in presence of Prime Minister or Home Minister. Announce a Supreme Court-monitored enquiry into the scandal,'' Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.

''Parliament is not functioning because Government is not agreeing to these legitimate demands,'' Ramesh said on Twitter.

TMC leader Derek O'Brien responded to Ramesh's tweet saying, ''We need this in Parliament. Not green tea at Piyush Goyal's office. Thanks. But no thanks.'' O'Brien was referring to Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal's request to opposition leaders to meet over a cup of tea at his office to resolve the stalemate and work out a solution to enable the smooth running of Parliament.

Kharge told reporters that the Pegasus issue has ''undermined our democracy and Constitutional rights'' and a Supreme Court-monitored enquiry should be announced immediately.

''Our demand is that the issue be discussed in Parliament as the charges in Pegasus snooping issue are very dangerous for democracy''.

Kharge said the opposition has been raising the demand but the government is adamant and is not discussing the issue.

''The snooping controversy has dealt a big blow to democracy in our country.

''The manner in which snooping is being done in the country, our privacy and personal liberty and democracy have been finished,'' he alleged.

Tharoor told reporters that the Congress wants the government to agree to a debate on the issue, but it is not ready.

''What we are saying is that if you (government) do not agree to this and answer our questions, then why we should allow you to transact your business.''