Congress not in favour of JPC probe into phone taps

The Congress Monday indicated it was not in favour of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into allegations of phone tapping of senior political leaders.“It (JPC) does not have coercive powers possessed by regulatory agencies…. (The) history of JPC in terms of penal outcomes is not very encouraging,” Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said.Singhvi said it was possible a JPC may inhibit ongoing investigations.“A final decision on JPC will be taken by the government,” Singhvi said while appealing to the opposition not to disrupt proceedings of parliament on the issue.The phone tapping issue rocked parliament Monday following a report in a newsmagazine that the government had tapped telephones of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Prakash Karat and Congress leader Digvijay Singh.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some other opposition parties have demanded a JPC to look into issues concerning the Indian Premier League and the phone tapping row.The CPI-M has sought an independent inquiry into the phone tapping allegations.With the demands of grants of several ministries scheduled to be taken up in the Lok Sabha Tuesday, Singhvi appealed to the opposition allow parliament to function.“It is not necessary to disrupt parliament on demand for JPC,” he said. Referring to Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement in parliament refuting allegations about the government involvement in phone tapping, Singhvi said the remarks were “fair, balanced and pointed”.
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