Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday said there was no scope of a separate discussion or debate on the Pegasus spyware issue in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament as the matter was being heard in court.
He, however, added that if Opposition parties wanted to raise any issue, they may do so while speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.
Joshi, who spoke to the media after a virtual all-party meeting, said, "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 the court’s jurisdiction right now," Joshi said.
"Whatever was needed to be said on the issue, was already done by information and technology minister Ashwani Vaishnaw on the floor of the House during the Monsoon Session last year," he added.
When asked about Opposition MPs seeking to move a breach of Privilege Motion against the IT Minister, Joshi said "They can go ahead. It is up to the Lok Sabha Speaker to admit it or not, but there seems to be no merit in this."
{{/usCountry}}When asked about Opposition MPs seeking to move a breach of Privilege Motion against the IT Minister, Joshi said "They can go ahead. It is up to the Lok Sabha Speaker to admit it or not, but there seems to be no merit in this."
{{/usCountry}}The Pegasus snooping issue was reignited recently after a New York Times report said India bought the spyware as part of a $2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017.
Several opposition parties have accused the government of perjury on the issue and lying in Parliament and to the Supreme Court.
MPs from the Congress and Left parties have issued a privilege motion against Vaishnaw for "deliberately misleading the House on the Pegasus issue".
Speaking on the all-party meeting, Joshi said floor leaders of 25 parties attended the meeting. He said defence minister and deputy leader of the Lok Sabha Rajnath Singh, who represented the government at the meeting, sought cooperation from all parties for smooth functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
The Budget session of Parliament began on Monday and is scheduled to conclude on April 8 with a recess in-between from February 12 to March 13.
(With inputs from agencies)