Centre's affidavit in SC denies allegations on Pegasus snooping controversy

Centre in its two-page affidavit submitted in SC on Pegasus issue denies all allegations made against the govt by petitioners in the Pegasus controversy.The government in its affidavit maintains that the petitions are based on conjectures and there is no substance in the accusations. The government also told the court that it will set up a committee of experts to examine the issue of alleged Pegasus snooping.

New Delhi: Centre in its two-page affidavit submitted in SC on Pegasus issue denies all allegations made against the govt by petitioners. The government denied that it was a spyware that was used to snoop on journalists, politicians and staff. The government in its affidavit maintains that the petitions are based on conjectures and there is no substance in the accusations.

The centre has also in its affidavit before the Supreme Court said that it will set up a committee of experts to examine the issue of alleged Pegasus snooping. The pegasus controversy had resulted in the monsoon session of the parliament being washed out as opposition parties demanded an unconditional debate on the issue.

The defence ministry during the monsoon session had said it did not have any transaction with the NSO Group, which sells the spyware. NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance software company, has been under increasing attack following allegations that its Pegasus software was used for surveillance of phones of people in several countries, including India.

In July, veteran journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar had moved the top court seeking a direction for an independent probe by its sitting or retired judge into the alleged Pegasus snooping scandal. Advocate M.L. Sharma and CPI-M Rajya Sabha member John Brittas had also moved the apex court seeking probe into the spying allegations.

The controversy erupted after an investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data claimed evidence that the military-grade malware from the NSO Group was being used to spy on politicians, journalists, human rights activists and others. Some of the numbers in the leaked data allegedly covered opposition politicians in the country. The data also allegedly showed that government and constitutional institution functionaries and their families were also allegedly targeted.

Also read:Pegasus:The story of hacking, snooping to eavesdrop in the name of national security