Bhopal: The ghost of the phone-tapping controversy that surfaced during the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government may return to haunt the Opposition BJP here with Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath mulling ordering an inquiry into it.

Rajya Sabha member and chairman of the AICC legal cell Vivek Tankha has written a letter to Mr Nath seeking a probe into the reports of alleged tapping of phones of some political leaders, bureaucrats, police officers, industrialists and scribes in Madhya Pradesh during Mr Chouhan’s tenure as chief minister.

The whistleblower in the case, Prashant Pandey, has filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter.

Mr Tankha cited the petition which was pending with the apex court for the past four years to justify his demand for a thorough probe into it.

“The chief minister has assured Mr Tankha of action in the matter,” sources close to Mr Tankha said on Monday.

The whistleblower had alleged that a software company registered in the US had been hired to spy on some political leaders including some ministers in the previous government.