Cong demands joint committee of Parliament to probe LS security breach

New Delhi, Dec 14: Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday demanded a joint committee of Parliament consisting of members with experience in policing, security and Law to investigate the December 13 security breach, and also cited the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill security breach which was independently probed by a Select Committee of the US Congress.

In a post on X, Tewari said, "A Joint Committee of Parliament consisting of Members who have prior experience in policing, security and Law must be set up to Concurrently investigate the occurrences of December 13, 2023."

Tewari, a Lok Sabha MP from Punjab's Anandpur Sahib and a former Union minister said, "While a simultaneous Police Investigation can play itself out and a parallel security audit by concerned agencies can unfold this Supreme Temple of Indian Democracy can not allow an incident like what happened on December 13, 2023 to repeat itself.

Reminding of the December 13, 2001 Parliament attack by terrorists, he said, "While December 13, 2001 and December 13, 2023 are not comparable but what could have happened in both cases has portentous consequences. That a security breach occurred again and the perpetrators could make it to the floor of the Lok Sabha should make all members pause and reflect on what could have happened……"

"Just as a Select Committee of the US Congress independently investigated the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill security breach similarly the Parliament of India must enquire into the entire incident independently and make appropriate recommendations to ensure that security and safety of Members and the Staff of Parliament is maintained at the highest level possible," he said.