Congress govt committed breach of privilege against own MLAs, alleges SAD

The Congress government had committed a breach of privilege against its own legislators by tapping their phones, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) alleged on Wednesday.

SAD also asked Vidhan Sabha Speaker Rana K P Singh to initiate action against the officials responsible for this as it demanded a separate criminal case be registered to nail down the culprits.

"It was shocking that Congress legislators had accused their own government of tapping their phones during a meeting of the district grievances redressal committee at Patiala yesterday. Congress legislator Madan Lal Jalalpur had even asked cabinet minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, who was presiding over the meeting, whether the tapping was being done at the behest of the state government. However, the minister had refused to clarify the same," SAD spokesman Dr Daljit Singh Cheema said in a statement.

The former minister added that SAD takes serious note of the issue and urges the Vidhan Sabha Speaker to take notice of the development and protect the privacy of legislators which had been blatantly violated.

"The Speaker should call the legislators and record their statement before proceeding in the matter. A separate probe should also be initiated in the case as Congress legislator Rajinder Singh had accused police officials of tapping his phone during the official meeting," Cheema said in a statement.

He also asserted that a criminal case should be filed against police officials responsible for this.