Parliament likely to be adjourned sine die on August 11: Report

Parliament building reflecting in a puddle after rainfall, in Delhi (File image: Reuters)

The Monsoon Session of Parliament is likely to end on August 11, two days before schedule, amid the ongoing logjam between the treasury and opposition benches over the Pegasus spyware issue, a report said on August 10.

Sources linked to news agency ANI said the Parliament is "expected to be adjourned sine die tomorrow". No statement, however, was issued by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry.

The current Parliament session, first since the devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, began on July 19. The opposition, which was already geared up to target the government over the contentious farm reform laws and the handling of coronavirus crisis, decided to disrupt the House proceedings after the Pegasus issue came to light.

A day before the Parliament convened, on July 18, a consortium of 17 media organisations across the world, including India's news portal The Wire, accessed a leaked database which claimed that over 300 phone numbers in India including those belonging to journalists and opposition leaders were potentially targeted using Pegasus - a spyware developed by Israeli intelligence firm NSO Group.

Pegasus Row | 'No transaction' with Israel's NSO Group, Defence Ministry tells Parliament

The opposition's repeated call for a debate over the alleged use of Pegasus by the government agencies has not been heeded to by the treasury bench.

Despite chaotic scenes in the Parliament, the government succeeded in passing a number of key legislations in the Lok Sabha, including the Taxation Amendment Bill to undo the 2012 retro tax law and the General Insurance Business Bill to pave way for greater private sector participation in public sector insurance companies.

Earlier in the day, the Lok Sabha witnessed a rare unanimity between the government and the opposition as the latter extended its support to pass the Constitution Amendment bill which allows states and Union Territories to issue their own list of other backward communities (OBCs).