New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Member John Brittas has moved it Supreme court Calls for a court-monitored investigation into reports of alleged spying of activists, politicians, journalists and constitutional functionaries using Israeli spyware Pegasus.
Media reports claimed that Pegasus spyware was used to monitor around 300 Indians, including ministers, political leaders, government officials and journalists, sparking a major political controversy.
Britas, who filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, said that the recent allegations of espionage have caused concern among a large section of people in India and that espionage will have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and expression.
They have called for a court-monitored investigation into allegations of spying using Pegasus spyware.
In a statement on Sunday, Britas, who is a member of the CPI-M, said that despite the very serious nature, the central government has not cared to investigate the allegations involved in the issue, but “only expected a It is time tested that our country has well established procedures to ensure that unauthorized surveillance does not take place.”
“Therefore, questions were raised in Indian parliament Regarding this leak. But the government has neither denied nor acknowledged the use of spyware.
Amid controversy over the Pegasus spyware issue, the government had said illegal surveillance is not possible with checks and balances in the country’s laws and alleged that attempts were being made to malign Indian democracy.
On 19 July, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told the Lok Sabha that media reports on alleged espionage published a day before the start of Parliament’s monsoon session “cannot be a coincidence” and insisted that there is “no essence” behind the sensationalist.
However, the minister did not specify whether the Indian government was using Pegasus spyware.
Britas also claimed on Sunday that the allegations lead to two conclusions, that there was espionage either by the government or by a foreign agency.
If it was done by the government, it was done in an unauthorized manner. If there was espionage by a foreign agency, it is an act of external aggression and needs to be dealt with seriously, Britas pointed out.
The minister had said that NSO, which owns the technology, has also “categorically rejected the claims in the report”.
NSO had said that the list of countries using Pegasus in the report was incorrect and that many of the countries mentioned were not even customers of the company, as given by the minister in the Lok Sabha on July 19.
Media reports claimed that Pegasus spyware was used to monitor around 300 Indians, including ministers, political leaders, government officials and journalists, sparking a major political controversy.
Britas, who filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, said that the recent allegations of espionage have caused concern among a large section of people in India and that espionage will have a chilling effect on freedom of speech and expression.
They have called for a court-monitored investigation into allegations of spying using Pegasus spyware.
In a statement on Sunday, Britas, who is a member of the CPI-M, said that despite the very serious nature, the central government has not cared to investigate the allegations involved in the issue, but “only expected a It is time tested that our country has well established procedures to ensure that unauthorized surveillance does not take place.”
“Therefore, questions were raised in Indian parliament Regarding this leak. But the government has neither denied nor acknowledged the use of spyware.
Amid controversy over the Pegasus spyware issue, the government had said illegal surveillance is not possible with checks and balances in the country’s laws and alleged that attempts were being made to malign Indian democracy.
On 19 July, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told the Lok Sabha that media reports on alleged espionage published a day before the start of Parliament’s monsoon session “cannot be a coincidence” and insisted that there is “no essence” behind the sensationalist.
However, the minister did not specify whether the Indian government was using Pegasus spyware.
Britas also claimed on Sunday that the allegations lead to two conclusions, that there was espionage either by the government or by a foreign agency.
If it was done by the government, it was done in an unauthorized manner. If there was espionage by a foreign agency, it is an act of external aggression and needs to be dealt with seriously, Britas pointed out.
The minister had said that NSO, which owns the technology, has also “categorically rejected the claims in the report”.
NSO had said that the list of countries using Pegasus in the report was incorrect and that many of the countries mentioned were not even customers of the company, as given by the minister in the Lok Sabha on July 19.
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