NYT report on India-Israel Pegasus ‘deal’: SC panel monitoring matter, report awaited, says govt source
According to the report in The New York Times, the Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the ‘centrepieces’ of a roughly $2-billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017.
FollowAmid a fresh row over the Pegasus issue that erupted on Saturday, a government source said that the matter related to controversial software is being monitored by a committee under the Supreme Court and its report is awaited.
The source said that the inquiry committee -- set up under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran -- has also published a newspaper advertisement on January 2 calling for submission of phones by people who claim their devices were infected by Pegasus. “Matter (is) already with the Supreme Court. The court has constituted a committee under the supervision of retired judge Raveendran. The committee's report (is) awaited,” the source was quoted as saying to PTI.
According to the report in The New York Times, the Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the ‘centrepieces’ of a roughly $2-billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017.
Following the report, the Centre came under heavy criticism from opposition parties, who accused it of ‘deceiving’ the Parliament.
“Matter (is) already with the Supreme Court. The court has constituted a committee under the supervision of retired judge Raveendran. The committee’s report (is) awaited,” the government source said, responding to the opposition tirade.
The Congress said that it intends to raise the issue in the budget session starting next week and will demand accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP government on the floor of Parliament.
The principal opposition party also urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter and initiate appropriate penal proceedings against the government for attempting to deliberately and knowingly ‘deceive’ it.
In a tweet, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said, “The (Narendra) Modi government must explain on affidavit why it bought this cyber weapon, who gave the permission for its usage, how were the targets selected and who got these reports?”
A massive controversy erupted last year when the NSO Group hit the headlines with the alleged use of its Pegasus software by some governments to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a number of countries, including India, triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.
