Today’s an important day for India’s social history. Pegasus, which has been all over the news lately, has caused big stir storms in other parts of the world, with strict investigations underway. In India, however, Pegasus has been side-lined. Less important issues are focused on. Various petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court, which will be heard today. The applications will be heard by a two-member bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justice Surya Kant.
Three hundred phones from India were found to be on the list of possible targets on the hacked database of NSO, which provides Israeli spyware Pegasus, according to a worldwide media investigation including many prominent newspapers, including The Wire. It cannot be concluded that the phones were hacked as of now.
On the purported leaked list of prospective targets, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor, two serving Union Ministers, ex-Election Commissioner, and 40 journalists were discovered.
The NSO company, which only sells Pegasus to governments and government agencies, claims it is unrelated to the phone number database that was stolen. These reports have no substance, according to the authorities.
The Editors’ Guild of India has filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for the government to conduct a thorough investigation into the Pegasus leaks and arrive at a conclusion for the leak of data. Senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar have previously requested that the spying accusations be investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by a former sitting judge. On the same matter, two further petitions were filed in the Supreme Court, one by CPM MP John Brittas and the other by lawyer ML Sharma.
Read also: Supreme Court angry with UP’s stand on Kanwar Yatra, notice issued
In response to calls for an investigation, the government has said that no illegal interception by its agencies has occurred. Claims of government monitoring on specific individuals have no solid foundation or truth linked with them.
Since the opening of the monsoon session of parliament on July 19, the opposition has demanded a debate and an impartial investigation into the spying scandal led by a Supreme Court judge.
