Phone tapping blow to democracy: Nitish

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday night said that any tapping of telephone at his official bungalow was "illegal and undemocratic."

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday night said that any tapping of telephone at his official bungalow was "illegal and undemocratic."

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"It is thoroughly illegal. Such type of act is disastrous and a blow to the democratic system," Kumar said when reporters sought comments on the report in a news magazine that phones of some leaders including Kumar had been tapped.

"I fail to comprehend what type of danger can be posed by me to the nation. I am a simple person and can never be a threat to the nation. In a democratic set up no tapping of phone is permissible. I highly object and protest," Kumar said.

Kumar referred to "similar attempts to end democracy" in 1975 alluding to the imposition of Emergency clamped on the nation by the Congress government led by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

"Now the Centre owes explanation to the nation to clarify under what circumstances the phones are being tapped," the Chief Minister said.

The 'Outlook' magazine claimed in its latest issue that phones of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Kumar and Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat had 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.