The government has reiterated that it did not authorise anyone to tap the phones of political leaders. Replying to the debate on the alleged phone tapping in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, Home Minister, P. Chidambaram assured the House that if the inquiry reveals any illegal or unauthorized interception of phones, the government will go to the bottom of the truth and take action as desired by the Prime Minister. Responding to the demand made for changes in the Telegraph Act, Mr. Chidambaram said that the government has an open mind on it and, if necessary, it will be amended. With regard to the National Technical Research Organisation, NTRO, Mr. Chidambaram said further safeguards will be applied to keep pace with the present day state of art technology. <br/> Earlier, taking part in the debate, the opposition accused the government of grossly misusing official machinery and institutions for its political ends. The leader of the opposition, Arun Jaitley said that the said that there are no absolute powers with the government to use the laws which only permits the use of intelligence for bugging phones in the cases of extreme importance involving either public emergency or public safety. Mr. Jaitley was joined by several other opposition members in demanding probe by JPC or a select committee of the Parliament. The opposition members felt that tapping of phones is a violation of the right to freedom of expression and privacy. Our correspondent says the issue had led to the disruption of proceedings in both Houses of Parliament this week.<br/>