Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 25

Amid a brewing controversy over alleged snooping on around 300 activists, politicians, journalists and constitutional functionaries using Israeli spyware Pegasus, Communist Party India (Marxist) Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament John Brittas has moved the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe into it.

Despite the very serious nature of allegations, the central government has not cared to probe into it but “made only a hopeful hope that the time-tested processes in our country are well-established to ensure that unauthorised surveillance does not occur”, Brittas said in a statement on Sunday.

“Therefore, the queries were raised in the Indian Parliament with respect to this leakage. But the government has neither denied nor admitted the snooping by the spyware,” Brittas said, adding the allegations led to two inferences—either snooping was done by the government or by a foreign agency.

Maintaining that the snooping allegations have caused concern among a large section of people, he said the scandal would have a chilling effect on free speech and expression.

The government maintained that illegal surveillance was not possible with checks and balances in the country’s laws. Attempts were being made to malign the Indian democracy, it alleged.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha on July 19 that reports on alleged snooping published on the eve of the Monsoon Session of Parliament “cannot be a coincidence”. There was “no substance” behind the sensationalism, he said.

This is the second petition filed in the top court on the issue. Alleging that Pegasus snooping controversy was the biggest crime committed by the ruling party for political vested interests, Delhi-based advocate ML Sharma had on July 22 filed a PIL in the top court demanding a court-monitored SIT probe into it.

Sharma—who has filed dozens of PILs on controversial issues—claimed the snooping controversy was an attack on Indian democracy and involved issues concerning national security and judicial independence.

Made by the Israeli software firm NSO Group, Pegasus is said to be capable of infecting smartphones without users' knowledge and accessing all their data. Reports alleged that several opposition leaders, cabinet ministers, activists, and journalists were on the list of the potential targets of Pegasus snooping. Pegasus was not just a surveillance tool but a cyberweapon unleashed on India, Sharma alleged.