New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) key ally in the Hindi belt and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sought a probe into the Pegasus snooping row which has virtually brought the Parliament to a standstill during the ongoing monsoon session.
"A probe should be done, indeed. We have been hearing about telephone tapping for so many days, the matter should be discussed (in Parliament). People (Opposition) have been reiterating (for talks) for so many days, it should be done," Nitish was quoted by agencies.
Opposition parties have been pressing on the Pegasus row, farm laws, Covid crisis since the commencement of the Monsoon Session. Four Bills were passed in the Upper House amid ruckus by Opposition.
Also read: NSO blocks some govt clients from using its spyware over misuse claims: Report
Pegasus is a spyware which was created by a Tel-Aviv based firm 'NSO Group' which was founded in the year 2010, wherein NSO forms the initials of its founders -Niv Carmi, Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie. According to a global NGO, the firm was set up to develop a software that could assist law enforcement and intelligence agencies to access remote digital devices, bypassing digital encryption.
However, the Group mentions that the product is for exclusive use by government agencies to counter crime and terror. As per a 2018 report by 'Citizen Lab', the spyware is allegedly being used in 45 countries including India, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
