Prominent leader's phone tapped
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat have also been tapped by National Technical Research Organisation, an intelligence agency created in the aftermath of the Kargil war to cover all aspects of technical intelligence gathering, "Outlook" magazine said in its latest issue.
While the phones of Singh and Kumar were tapped in 2007 and that of Karat in 2008 at the height of his opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal leading to the no-confidence motion against the government, the telephone of Pawar was tapped and taped last fortnight in the wake of the scandal in the IPL.
"Discussions between the minister and IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi were tapped and taped last fortnight in the wake of the scandal in the cricket league. The recorded conversations allegedly threw up inside details of the deals that were stuck in the bidding process for the various teams," the magazine said.
The magazine's Editor Vinod Mehta said while he appreciated concerns of national security he wondered why telephone tapping was being resorted to against leaders for "political opportunism".
He said tapping could now now be done by modern gadgets within a radius of two km and there was no no need for any authorisation for the purpose. It could be misused against common public, he added.
Political parties criticised the government for the alleged resort to snooping on leaders.
BJP deputy leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said his party would raise the issue in Parliament on Monday. He contended this was in violation of Art 21 of the Constitution which assures protection of life and liberty to every citizen.
His party colleague and spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman said she was not surprised or shocked by the Congress party-led government's "return" to emergency days.
CPI leader D Raja said India was a democracy and not a military-state where personal freedoms are barred. government should explain why it was doing this, he said adding he would raise the issue in Rajya Sabha.
Congress downplayed the issue of alleged tapping of phones of several politicians, including those in power, and said it is for the government to explain.
The party at the same time maintained that illegal phone tapping was unjustified.
"Illegal phone tapping is unjustified but in this case, it is for the government to explain whether phone tapping was done or not or whether it was legal or not," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.
The Congress leader's remark comes in wake of reports in a weekly magazine alleging that government agencies have been tapping phones of important politicians and ministers since 2006.
Reacting to it, main opposition BJP has said it will raise the issue in Parliament.
"If the government is tapping the phones of terrorists, or tax evaders or secessionists, then it is understandable as national interest and national security are involved. But tapping phones of politicians and ministers is condemnable," BJP Deputy Leader in Rajya Sabha S S Ahluwalia said.
Ahluwalia insisted that this was violation of Article 21 of the Constitution which assures protection of life and personal liberty of every citizen.
