News Analysis India

Tag: Pegasus

  • Pegasus row: Mamata says Modi govt wants to establish ‘surveillance state’, calls for Opposition unity

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: Latching on to the Pegasus snooping row, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday accused the Modi government of trying to establish a “surveillance state”.

    She also asked the Supreme Court to take cognizance of snooping scandal that purportedly targeted politicians, activists, journalists and even judges using the Pegasus spyware, and asked Opposition parties to come together to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    “BJP wants to convert a democratic country into a surveillance state rather than a welfare state,” she said addressing the Martyrs’ Day rally in Kolkata online.

    The TMC observes Martyrs’ Day on July 21 every year to commemorate the killing of 13 people in police firing on a rally of Youth Congress workers against the then Left Front government in 1993 when Banerjee was in the Congress.

    ALSO READ | Shashi Tharoor-headed Parliamentary panel to question Centre on Pegasus phone tapping row on July 28

    The TMC supremo also accused the Centre of spending the money collected through tax on fuel and other commodities for spying using a “dangerous software” instead of funding welfare schemes.

    “I know my phone is being tapped. All opposition leaders know that our phones are being tapped. I can’t speak to NCP leader Sharad Pawarji or other opposition leaders or chief ministers because we are being snooped and spied on by the Centre. But snooping on us won’t save them in 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” Banerjee told the rally.

    Slamming the BJP-led NDA government for its “monumental failure” in handling the second wave of the COVID crisis, the TMC supremo termed the saffron party a “highly loaded virus party” which needs to be defeated at any cost.

    ALSO READ | Kamal Nath demands probe into Pegasus snooping case by Supreme Court judge 

    Banerjee thanked leaders of the Congress, NCP, SP, Shiv Sena and several other parties for joining her rally virtually from New Delhi.

    She said all those opposed to the BJP and its “authoritarian regime” should defeat it.

    “BJP has taken the country to darkness, we all have to come forward to take it to new light,” the Bengal leader said.

    “Khela Hobe” (will play), she declared, renewing the battle cry she made during the state assembly elections, adding the fight will continue till BJP is ousted from power.

  • Congress should refrain from games that lower country’s image: BJP’s Khattar on Pegasus snooping row 

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday hit out at the Congress over its attack on the central government over the Pegasus snooping row, and accused its leaders of joining hands with those forces who want to tarnish India’s image.

    He claimed that there is no evidence to link the government with the matter.

    Addressing a press conference here, the senior BJP leader also questioned the credentials of those behind the story and alleged “everyone knows their leanings”.

    He also targeted Amnesty International, saying the agenda of the organisation, “which had failed to disclose its source of funding, is well-known”.

    ALSO READ | Shashi Tharoor-headed Parliamentary panel to question Centre on Pegasus phone tapping row on July 28

    Hitting out at the Congress, he alleged that it leaders are joining hands with those forces who want to tarnish India’s image.

    “They should refrain from playing such games which lower the country’s image in the eyes of the world… Today, India has reached to some level in the world which is because of policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and of the NDA government. The way they have raked up controversy, we condemn it.

    “By raking up this controversy under a conspiracy, they are trying to systematically assault the country’s prestige, which we condemn,” Khattar said.

    Khattar also questioned the timing of the story coming as it did a day before Parliament’s Monsoon session began on Monday.

    “The entire row is timed to disrupt Parliament and build a baseless agenda,” he said and also raked up snooping allegations levelled against the opposition party in the past, including a row involving then Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee and P Chidambaram.

    He further claimed everyone knows under what circumstances the government led by former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar fell in 1991 when the Congress decided to withdraw support in the wake of a controversy over spotting of two intelligence operatives outside the residence of its leader at 10, Janpath in the national capital.

    Further targeting Congress, he said it has been revealed that around 9,000 phones were monitored during the previous UPA regime.

    ALSO READ | Kamal Nath demands probe into Pegasus snooping case by Supreme Court judge 

    He said Parliament would have taken up many important issues pertaining to various sections, including the youth, women, farmers and backward classes, but the Opposition stalled the proceedings.

    “Congress’ target has always been that when some good things are to take shape in the country, it joins hands with some forces to derail things,” he alleged.

    “They are not creating obstacles in running of the government, but in the country’s progress. …Congress’ black deeds will never succeed in the country,” he said.

    When asked about the claim that Pegasus software/spyware is sold only to government, Khattar quipped, “No, private agencies also procure it from them. Now, it may be that private agencies take it from them privately and not declare it.”

     An international media consortium reported on Sunday that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders besides scores of business persons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking using Pegasus software/spyware.

  • Kamal Nath demands probe into Pegasus snooping case by Supreme Court judge 

    By PTI
    BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Wednesday termed the alleged snooping by the Israeli spyware Pegasus as the “biggest attack on the privacy” of people and demanded a probe into it by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

    Addressing a press conference here, the former state chief minister also said that the Centre should file an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it did not use this spyware.

    He said the Centre is denying the charges of snooping through the Pegasus spyware.

    READ HERE | Shashi Tharoor-headed Parliamentary panel to question Centre on Pegasus phone tapping row on July 28

    The Union government should clarify whether it (the spyware) was purchased for the “national security or Modi security”, he said.

    Nath said the Centre should “file an affidavit in the Supreme Court that it had not obtained this spyware and its license from the Israel-based NSO (company)”.

    “This alleged snooping is the biggest attack on privacy…an investigation should also be carried out into the matter by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court, whose phone was not snooped upon.

    The judge should be appointed (for the probe) with the consent of the opposition parties,” the Congress leader said.

    Nath noted that France has already ordered an inquiry into the alleged spying by Pegasus.

    An international media consortium on Sunday reported that several verified mobile phone numbers, including of two serving ministers, various journalists, some opposition leaders and a sitting judge besides scores of business persons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the Israeli spyware sold only to government agencies.

    The government, however, dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people, saying it “has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever”.

  • Shashi Tharoor-headed Parliamentary panel to question Centre on Pegasus phone tapping row on July 28

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: A parliamentary standing committee, chaired by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, will question officials of the Ministry of Information and Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs in connection with the case of alleged illegal surveillance of journalists and political leaders using the Pegasus software.

    A meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has been called on July 28. Officials of the Ministry of Information Technology, Home and Communications have been summoned to the meeting.

    The agenda for the meeting is ‘Evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications) on the subject of ‘Citizens’ data security and privacy’.

    The meeting is scheduled to begin at 4 pm.

    Since the case came to light through a report by The Wire on Sunday, several opposition leaders have demanded an independent probe into the matter.

    ALSO READ | EXPLAINER | How does the Pegasus spyware work, and is your phone at risk?

    The names of over 40 Indian journalists and politicians appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to the report.

    According to the report, the journalists who were targeted work for some news organisations in the country including Hindustan Times, The Hindu, India Today, Indian Express and Network18. Many of them cover matters related to Defence, Home Ministry, Election Commission and Kashmir among others.

    However, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said there is ‘no substance’ in the media report regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp, adding that the report was an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions.

    On July 19, the Bharatiya Janata Party hit out at the Congress for accusing the government of its role in the alleged illegal surveillance of journalists using Pegasus spyware and said that there is not a shred of evidence that shows the linkage of the government or the BJP.

    Outrightly rejecting the allegations, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad termed it as a pre-planned strategy by some to raise the Pegasus story just before the Monsoon session of the Parliament.

  • Parliament’s Pegasus paralysis: Opposition steps up attack on Modi government; BJP launches counter offensive

    Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  A united Opposition on Tuesday decided to continue paralysing Parliament demanding that the Modi government come clean on Israeli spyware Pegasus, following an expose on its possible use to snoop into smartphone conversations of loads of politicians, journalists and other prominent persons.

    Leaders of Opposition parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha met before Parliament’s proceedings began and agreed to keep up the pressure on the Centre to reveal whether it is part of Peagsus’ clientele, since the NSO group, which owns the spyware, claims it sells it only to vetted governments.

    With new revelations suggesting that Pegasus could have been used to topple the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka led by H D Kumaraswamy, the Congress felt the matter will resonate in the House.

    Congress Chief Whip in Lok Sabha K Suresh said the Opposition will collectively continue to protest inside both Houses from Thursday. Parliament is closed on Wednesday to mark Bakrid.

    While the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the second successive day without transacting any business following protests from the Opposition, there was consensus on Rajya Sabha taking up a short discussion on the management of the pandemic.

    “Discussion in Rajya Sabha was agreed upon under special circumstances keeping in mind the importance of the matter. Non-participation would have been projected as the Opposition being unsympathetic to people who have suffered due to the pandemic,” said a senior Congress leader.

    Also, when the Business Advisory Committee meeting convened by Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu agreed to take up the Covid debate, the expose on the possible destabilisation of the Kumaraswamy government had not been revealed, the leader said.

    ALSO READ | Pegasus row: Karnataka Congress goes all guns blazing at Modi govt

    “We will not allow Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha to function till the Pegasus issue is discussed in the House. Today is different as Rajya Sabha took up discussion on Covid-19 as the Centre does politics on the issue. Pegasus is the Number 1 issue and it is a national security issue, so no compromise on that,” said Derek O’Brien, Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha floor leader. He said the repeal of three farm laws is also topmost on the party’s priority list, adding they would continue pressing it in Parliament. 

    Meanwhile, the BJP Tuesday fielded its senior leaders across the country including state chief ministers to blunt the Opposition attack.

    BJP chief ministers including Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (MP), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Vijay Rupani (Gujarat), Jai Ram Thakur (Himachal Pradesh) and Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand) were among those who addressed the media to hit back at the Congress and other Opposition parties which have slammed the Modi government over the snooping row.

    Senior BJP state leaders, including its state presidents and leaders of opposition, also targeted the Opposition.

    The Congress has demanded the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah.

    Lashing out at the opposition Congress and international organisations for alleging the use of the Pegasus spyware to snoop upon on politicians, journalists and others in India, Shah had Monday said such “obstructers” and “disrupters” were only aiming to humiliate India at the world stage.

    Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday demanded a ban on human rights organisation Amnesty Internationals activities in India for its role in the Pegasus snooping controversy.

    The BJP leader also claimed that the entire controversy was an “international conspiracy by the Left-wing organisations, including Amnesty International,” to defame the Narendra Modi-led Central government.

    “Various Left-wing organisations throughout the world, including Amnesty International, are part of the conspiracy theory”, Sarma said.

    ALSO READ | Won’t allow Parliament to function till Pegasus issue is discussed: Opposition parties

    “It is clear that they want to defame Indias democracy. I demand that activities of Amnesty International be immediately banned within India”, he said.

    There were evidences earlier, but with this recent expose, it is now clear that Amnesty can go to any extend to defame Indias democratic fabric, Sarma added.

    He criticised newspapers like the Washington Post which does not write about how many people are dying of COVID in which state or how America is controlling it but is more interested in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing.

    “I outrightly condemn Amnesty International and caution them not to try this. They will be exposed if they try to disrupt the unity and integrity of our country,” he said.

    The chief minister further alleged that a “large international conspiracy” in going on to defame India and damage its democratic set-up and the Pegasus controversy is a part of that larger plot.

    “There was a hue and cry over the oxygen issue and when India managed to control the second COVID wave effectively, they moved on to this Pegasus controversy. In between there was the toolkit controversy,” he alleged.

    He pointed out the Parliament should have been discussing how the country can be saved from the third wave or how the economy can be saved, but on the eve of the sitting, the Pegasus controversy came to the forefront.

    Questioning the timing of making public the Pegasus controversy just a day before Parliament session began, the chief minister said, “whenever India approaches some milestone, international conspiracy both from outside the country and within starts immediately”.

    He demanded that the people involved in this conspiracy should be examined and brought before law.

    On those accusing the government of snooping on the basis of the Pegasus controversy, Sarma said the people whose name appear on the purported list can get their devices checked through forensic and establish whether their devices were hacked or not.

    “Congress Rahul Gandhi could have filed a police complaint and could have got his device checked through forensic experts. But, nothing like it was done,” he said.

    Sarma alleged that the track record of the Congress was bad when it comes to phone tapping and snooping and a reply under the RTI Act in 2013 had revealed that 5000 phone numbers and 500 emails were under surveillance during the Congress-led UPA government.

    The Congress government in Rajasthan had also faced criticism over phone tapping charges and intruding privacy, he further claimed.

    ALSO READ | Pegasus spyware: French prosecutors open probe into alleged media spying

    BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said Maharashtra government did not avail of the services the private Israeli firm NSO, which licenses its military-grade Pegasus spyware to governments for tracking terrorists and criminals, as long as he was the state chief minister.

    Fadnavis, Maharashtra chief minister during 2014-19, and now Opposition leader in the state Assembly, was speaking to reporters following claims that the Pegasus software, that can infect phones without a click, was used in attempted and successful hacks of smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists and business executives in India and many other countries.

    “The Maharashtra government did not avail of any services from NSO till I was the chief minister,” Fadnavis said.

    “A team of DGIPR (the state government’s publicity department) went to Israel after the (2019 Assembly) elections and before the next government was formed, but that trip was for agriculture development purposes,” the BJP leader said.

    The Central government has already rubbished reports on the alleged snooping using Pegasus, Fadnavis said, adding “There is only legal interception, there is no illegal hacking.”

    Later in the day, the Maharashtra Congress countered Fadnavis over his claim on a DGIPR team visiting Israel to study agriculture development.

    State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, whose party is a constituent of the Shiv Sena-led MVA government, claimed the visit in question was about discussing issues related to cyber crime and new ways of social media, among others.

    In a series of tweets, Sawant, who is also the state Congress general secretary, published a photo of the itinerary of the DGIPR delegation’s visit to Israel.

    Sawant said, “Here is a list of topics for the study of the DGIPR delegation (when Fadnavis was CM). The ‘agriculture’ word is not there. And if it was there, why no officials from agriculture department were sent to Israel?” “For his information, the subject of the tour was to study new trends in Government outreach programs and new ways of utilising social-web media,” he said.

    The photo tweeted by Sawant lists nine topics covered under the tour.

    They were about utilising web media, educating citizens about cyber crime, use of new media in reaching out to rural and the unreachable population and emerging social media platforms, among others.

    The issue of snooping using Pegasus spyware has snowballed into a massive political row in Parliament and outside as various parties demanded a thorough investigation and sacking of Home Minister Amit Shah, while the government maintained it had nothing to do with it.

    Fadnavis alluded to the surfacing of the Pegasus controversy as a plan to defame India.

    “We noticed that one or two media (outlets) got Chinese funding and carried out propaganda,” he said.

    The Pegasus issue is part of a design to derail the ongoing Parliament session, Fadnavis said.

    “There are some international forces that are trying to malign the image of the country, especially when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking the country on the path of progress. He has formed the most inclusive government with ministers from SCs and OBCs. The opposition deliberately brought out this story ahead of the session,” Fadnavis said.

    “The Central government has denied having snooped on any person with the help of NSO. One should trust it,” Fadnavis said.

    He was responding when asked about claims by a British newspaper that there were traces of hacking in the phone used by political strategist Prashant Kishor, who as Mamata Banerjee’s chief political strategist, is credited with Trinamool Congress’ big win against BJP in this year’s Assembly elections in West Bengal.

    Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sawant had on Monday asked if the ‘Pegasus scandal’ happened during the tenure of the Fadnavis-led government in the state.

    “Was any IPS officer sitting in Mantralaya working on this? With whose permission did the DGIPR officers go to Israel? What training did they receive? Did they come back and report? Is it related to Pegasus? It is surprising and suspicious that such tours have taken place during the election period”, Sawant had said.

    “How many times did some officers go to Israel? Were there any government meetings with NSO? What was the correspondence with NSO? It should all come to the fore,” the Congress spokesperson had sought to know.

    Congress behaviour irresponsible: Modi

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday criticised the Congress for its ‘irresponsible behaviour’ of disrupting Parliament because of its negative mindset, while urging members of the BJP Parliamentary Party to proactively combat the Opposition.

    Kapil Sibal demands SC-monitored probe, white paper in Parliament by government

    Former IT minister and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal Tuesday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe in the Pegasus snooping matter and a white paper by the government in Parliament explicitly stating whether the Israeli spyware was used by it or not.

    Addressing a press conference at his residence here, Sibal also hit back at Home Minister Amit Shah for his remarks on Monday that allegations of surveillance were only aimed to humiliate India at the world stage, saying the “nation is not being maligned, but due to your government’s actions, the government is being maligned”.

    Referring to Shah’s ‘Aap Chronology Samajhiye’ comment, the Congress leader said, “We are understanding the chronology. I want to say to Amit Shah ji ‘Aap iski chronology samajhiye (You should understand the chronology of this issue), this was done between 2017-2019.”

    “This (the Pegasus issues) is a very serious matter. We want a Supreme Court-monitored probe with a continuing mandamus, like in the Jain Hawala matter,” he said, referring to situations when the Court keeps close watch on certain cases during the probe.

    He also demanded that an independent investigation be conducted, saying “we cannot trust the agencies of this government”.

    Sibal also said that the proceedings should be in-camera so that everyone gets to know the truth.

    Asked about his party demanding a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, he said it could be in addition to the Supreme Court-monitored probe, and added that he was speaking as a concerned citizen of India.

    The government should also present a white paper in Parliament and clearly state whether it or its agencies deployed the spyware Pegasus.

    “The government should say that we have never used Pegasus but they have not said that. A big problem arises if the government has not done it or its agencies have not done it, then who has done it. NSO (the Israeli technology firm which created the spyware) says it does not sell to anyone except government agencies,” Sibal said.

    He said Home Minister Shah should tell Parliament that the government has not used the spyware.

    “You say that you are bringing private data protection but you are doing data collection through Pegasus. This is a national security threat for having leaked data to an agency which has nothing to do with India,” he said.

    Sibal also asked, “Who prepared the list of telephones to be tapped and why the list was prepared?” If the government or its agencies have intercepted a minister’s phone by introducing malware in his phone then it is a violation of the Official Secrets Act, Sibal said, in an apparent reference to Prahlad Singh Patel’s number listed among the potential targets for hacking through the Israeli spyware.

    He also hit out at IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for his statement in Parliament that similar claims were made in the past regarding the use of Pegasus on Whatsapp and they were categorically denied by all parties, including in the Supreme Court.

    “He also said there was a hearing in the Supreme Court and in that all parties said that no such thing happened. I was the lawyer for WhatsApp, the chief justice asked orally when someone alleged that this was happening through Pegasus ‘if this was happening’ and I said, ‘ask the government’,” narrated Sibal, who was the Minister of Communications and Information Technology between January 2011- May 2014.

    The government has not stated till now whether such a thing was happening and the minister says all parties denied it, Sibal asserted, adding this amounts to breach of privilege as it is “false”.

    “The statement of IT minister in Parliament is also false,” he alleged.

    The government on Monday categorically rejected in Lok Sabha allegations of snooping on politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus software, asserting that illegal surveillance was not possible with checks and balances in the country’s laws, and alleged that attempts were being made to malign Indian democracy.

    Trinamool says will continue to disrupt Parliament till government comes clean on snooping charges

    The Trinamool Congress Tuesday said it will continue to disrupt Parliament proceedings till the government comes clean on the charges of snooping and surveillance using the Pegasus spyware and discusses it in both Houses.

    The party said it will, however, not halt any discussion on the coronavirus situation or aspects related to it.

    “This (Pegasus spyware) is a serious issue and the TMC will not compromise on it. We will not let either House run till this government comes clean on the charges of snooping and surveillance. The government has spent millions to hack into phones at a time when the country is dealing with a pandemic,” TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien said.

    Opposition members raised uproar in both houses and demanded a thorough probe into the charges of snooping on journalists, politicians, ministers, judges and others using the Israeli spyware.

    One of those listed as being allegedly snooped upon is (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

    TMC Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra said, “We are saying on record that the IT minister lied on the floor of the House. We just want the PM, HM and the IT minister to answer if India is a client of NSO (Israeli firm that makes the Pegasus spyware) or not? We have a list of questions for the government and we will not allow Parliament to run unless these questions are answered.”

    Moitra then listed some questions — has any department under the government of India purchased Pegasus? Is the spyware being used currently? Which agency has requisitioned this data and where is it being retained? IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had Monday dismissed media reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, saying the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament are aimed at maligning Indian democracy.

    In a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said that with several checks and balances being in place, “any sort of illegal surveillance” by unauthorised persons is not possible in India.

    On the Union health secretary’s scheduled briefing to all parties on Covid this evening, O’Brien said TMC floor leaders will attend the presentation as it does not want to politicise the issue.

    The Congress has announced that it will boycott the presentation.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Pegasus row: Activists and student leaders too on snooping list, claims media report

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  An international collaboration of journalists on Tuesday revealed a list of names of activists and anti-caste leaders, including former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, who were potential targets of the Israeli spyware Pegasus.

    The Wire news portal, in the third part of its revelations from the international collaborative journalistic investigation called the Pegasus Project, reported that those marked as potential targets for surveillance include Ambedkarite activist Ashok Bharti; academic and chronicler of life in Naxal-dominated regions Bela Bhatia; railway union leader Shiv Gopal Mishra, Delhi-based labour rights activist Anjani Kumar, anti-coal mining activist Alok Shukla and Delhi University professor Saroj Giri.

    “Without digital forensics, it is not possible to conclusively establish whether their phones were hacked or infected. But their appearance on the list suggests that they were persons of interest to an unidentified client of the NSO Group that was focused on India,” the report said.

    The spyware is owned by Israeli company NSO Group, which said it provides the technology only to ‘vetted governments’. A list of almost 1,000 Indians was obtained by Amnesty International and the Paris-based Forbidden Stories, through a leak. 

    On Monday, the portal claimed phones of politicians Rahul Gandhi, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and others were potential targets. It added that upon technical analysis, it was found election strategist Prashant Kishor’s phone was infected with the spyware.

    The government has dismissed the reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, saying the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament are aimed at “maligning Indian democracy”.

    Ashok Bharti, the chairman of All India Ambedkar Mahasabha, an umbrella association of Dalit rights’ groups, had led a nationwide Bharat Bandh on April, 2, 2018 against a Supreme Court ruling, which he claimed took away the teeth of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

    The ruling sparked massive demonstrations across the country, and the Bharat Bandh claimed 11 lives and left hundreds injured.

    In 2019, WhatsApp stated that four of the activists mentioned above — Saroj Giri, Bela Bhatia, Alok Shukla and Shubranshu Choudhary — were affected by a Pegasus attack that took place through a specific vulnerability in the company’s security.

    Two of the former JNU students — Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya — were among those charged for sedition over an event on JNU campus where anti-national slogans were allegedly raised.

    Khalid is currently in jail for charges under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in connection with the northeast Delhi riots of February 2020.

    The report has been published by The Wire news portal from India in collaboration with 16 other international publications including the Washington Post, The Guardian and Le Monde, as media partners to an investigation conducted by Paris-based media non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International.

    The investigation focuses on a leaked list of more than 50,000 phone numbers from across the world that are believed to have been the target of surveillance through Pegasus software of Israeli surveillance company NSO Group.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Suvendu Adhikari booked for transfer threat to senior cop, call detail access claims

    By PTI
    TAMLUK/KOLKATA: Amid the nationwide row over alleged snooping activities with Pegasus spyware, Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, stoked a controversy when he said that he got access to call details of Purba Medinipur district SP Amarnath K, prompting the police on Tuesday to file suo motu cases against him.

    Adhikari, during a party meeting in the district’s Tamluk area on Monday, had also publicly advised the local police chief to “refrain from doing anything that might lead to his transfer to Kashmir”.

    Taking cognisance of his remarks, the district police, during the day, filed suo motu cases against the BJP MLA and 14 of his aides under various sections of the IPC, including one dealing with the Disaster Management Act for holding a rally without permission, and another related to deterring a public servant from performing his duty.

    The senior BJP leader, in his message to the district superintendent of police (SP), had said, “Do not file fake cases. I have evidence to prove that they are fake and politically motivated. I will file public interest litigation seeking a CBI probe into such allegations. Please do not do anything that would lead to your transfer to Kashmir’s Anantnag or Baramulla.”

    The saffron party legislator is facing multiple probes, one of which involves alleged tarpaulin theft.

    The Nandigram MLA, who narrowly defeated Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in assembly elections held earlier this year, also said, “I have details of all calls made to you (SP and other police personnel) by the office of the nephew (TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee),” and added that “if you have the state government’s support, we have the Centre by our side”.

    Citing the example of former Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, who the CBI had grilled for his alleged involvement in chit fund cases, Adhikari said it would be best if police officers carry out duties without bias.

    He hailed the NHRC report on Bengal’s post-poll violence, which noted that the situation in the state is a manifestation of “law of the ruler” and not the “rule of law”.

    The leader of opposition added that he would hold a mass agitation in the district on August 9 with one lakh people to protest against all such “malpractices”.

    The district SP, when contacted, said, “We have lodged suo motu cases against Mr Adhikari. He claimed he has call records. Since he is not working in the law enforcement, he can’t be having such devices (to record calls).”

    The Nandigram legislator’s assertions at the party meeting have further triggered a war of words between the TMC and the BJP, with the state’s ruling party demanding Adhikari’s arrest for “illegally snooping into the phone of a public servant and threatening him with a transfer”.

    “Suvendu Adhikari should be arrested immediately and interrogated in custody. He has proved that Pegasus was used to snoop on many people, including Abhishek Banerjee. It is a heinous crime. The Centre is misusing its powers,” said TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh.

    The state BJP unit, however, came out in Adhikari’s defence and said if action is taken against Adhikari, TMC leader Mukul Roy should also be arrested for making similar allegations after switching over to the BJP in 2017.

    “Suvendu Adhikari is a seasoned politician. He made the statements at a rally. If the police can lodge cases against Adhikari, then why is Mukul Roy being spared? “After joining the BJP, he said in an interview that the TMC government had tapped his phones. Was that statement true or false?” state BJP chief spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya maintained.

    Roy, who had quit the TMC in 2017 and joined the BJP, returned to the state’s ruling party last month.

    The TMC has come down heavily on the BJP government at the Centre after party leader Abhishek Banerjee’s name apparently figured in the list of targets of the Pegasus spying operation, terming it as “an attack on democracy”.

  • Pegasus row: Both houses of Parliament adjourned amid Opposition ruckus

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for about an hour on Tuesday after opposition parties obstructed regular business over various issues, including the Pegasus snooping controversy.

    Members of opposition parties, who had given as many as 15 notices under rule 267 requiring setting aside of the business of the day to take up the issue they want to raise, raised slogans and rushed into the Well of the House, prompting chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to adjourn the proceedings till 12 noon.

    The issues include alleged snooping of Opposition leaders, journalists and vocal critics of the government, fuel price rise and farmers agitation against new farm laws.

    No sooner had the House condoled the death of a former member, Ramadhar Kashyap, members of Congress, TMC, Left and DMK were up on their feet raising various issues.

    With the chairman disallowing all the 15 notices as he did for the 17 served on Monday, Anand Sharma of tghe Congress said either the rule 267 should be removed or the Chairman should consider notices given under them as long as it is there in the rule book.

    “These are issues of concern. We should not only read about it in newspapers or see on television,” he said.

    Naidu said he agrees with Sharma.

    ALSO READ | Pegasus row: Opposition meets to chalk up strategy against Modi government; Congress to hold press conferences in every state on Wednesday

    “There is a need for (rule) 267. I have been there in the House and I understand the problem of national security, something serious happens, you have to suspend the business and then take up that matter.”

    But this provided the Chairman goes through the notice and then admits it, he said adding the notices given on Monday and Tuesday largely relate to “variety of issues. some of them ongoing for a long time, some of them discussed earlier.”

    “What is the way for the Chairman to admit 15 267 notices and take the house forward,” he remarked adding zero hour is the time when members can raise issues on which they have given notices.

    But Opposition members were not convinced and started to rush into the Well as Naidu called for listed official papers to be laid on the table.

    As they raised slogans, Naidu adjourned the proceedings.

    “The House is adjourned to meet at 12 noon because some people have decided not to allow the House (to function),” he remarked.

    Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till 2 pm on Tuesday after the Opposition created a ruckus over the Pegasus snooping controversy and other issues.

    Opposition members sought to raise various issues and shouted slogans as soon as the House met for the day at 11 am.

    The proceedings lasted for barely five minutes.

  • Phone-tapping wrong, misuse of tech: Nitish Kumar on Pegasus row

    By Express News Service
    PATNA:  While the Centre has come under fire from the opposition over the Pegasus issue, ally Nitish Kumar also called phone-tapping unfair and wrong. 

    At the sidelines of his weekly Janata Ka Darbar on Monday, Nitish, upon being asked about the controversy, said, “All this is happening due to new technology and its misuse. This is wrong and I have always maintained that there are advantages and disadvantages of the new technology.”

    The Bihar CM, whose party Janata Dal-United is in power in alliance with the BJP, said action should be taken against those indulging in wrongdoing. 

    When asked about the continuation of farmers’ agitation on Delhi borders, Nitish stressed on resuming talks with them.

    However, he added that the agitation was not good at a time when Covid-19 pandemic continues to thrive across the country. 

  • Rahul Gandhi, Prashant Kishor, two BJP ministers part of Pegasus snoop list

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: An international collaborative investigation by journalists on Monday continued to reveal more names, including those of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, election strategist Prashant Kishor and two ministers in the Modi government, whose phones were potentially targeted for hacking using Israeli malware Pegasus.

    The names, which included new IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Food Processing Prahlad Singh Patel, were revealed hours after the former defended the government in Parliament.

    Making a suo motu statement in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said the report on the government using Pegasus was nothing but an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions.

    “It is not a coincidence that the reports have been published a day before the monsoon session of Parliament. In the past, similar allegations were made on WhatsApp but there is no factual basis to these and have been categorically denied,” he said.

    The number of Vaishnaw, who recently became a minister, was among the 300 verified Indian numbers listed as potential targets for surveillance during 2017-2019 by a client of the Israel-based NSO group, The Wire said.

    While Parliament saw a stormy start to the Monsoon Session as Vaishnaw made the statement amid the din on the Pegasus affair, a political slugfest ensued outside Parliament with the Congress and the BJP trading barbs over the issue.

    While the Congress demanded the sacking of Home Minister Amit Shah and a probe into the “role” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the matter, the BJP hit out at the Opposition party over its attack and claimed that there is not a “shred of evidence” to link either the ruling party or the Modi dispensation with the matter.

    While Union home minister Amit Shah called it a ‘report by disrupters for obstructers’, the Congress sought his resignation and a probe into the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the matter.

    Reacting sharply to the report, Shah said, “disruptors and obstructers will not be able to derail India’s development trajectory through their conspiracies” and asserted that it the report has been “amplified by few with only one aim – to humiliate India at world stage.”

    Releasing the fresh tranche of investigation, The Wire said at least two mobile phone accounts used by former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi were listed as potential targets by “an official Indian client of the Israeli surveillance technology vendor, NSO Group”.

    The forensic inspection of a cross-section of phones drawn from this list by Amnesty International’s technical lab has confirmed the presence of Pegasus spyware in as many as 37 instruments, 10 of which are in India.

    The Opposition will hold a strategy session on Tuesday on how to corner the government in Parliament on Pegasus.

    West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, renowned virologist Gagandeep Kang, India head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Hari Menon and former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa’s names also featured on the potential list of targets.

    Over 1,000 Indian phone numbers were on the list of potential targets of which 300 were verified by the collaborative following which technical forensic analysis was performed on 22 smartphones.

    The portal claimed that traces of the malware were found in Kishor’s smartphone. According to the portal, the list of around 50,000 phone numbers across the world was obtained through leaked data by Amnesty International and Parisbased Forbidden Stories.

    The use of the malware could be confirmed on the smartphones only after forensic analysis. Some smartphones do not leave its traces and hence the potential hack could not established.

    Israeli company, the NSO group, which owns Pegasus, claims only ‘vetted governments’ are part of its clientele.

    Monday’s list came a day after it was revealed that the malware was used to hack into the phones of around 40 journalists and activists critical of the government.

    While Lavasa’s phone was added to the list after he faulted Prime Minister Modi for poll code violations, Kang’s was added in 2018 and Menon’s around 2019.

    Gandhi’s phones are not among those examined as he no longer has the handsets he used at the time that his numbers appear to have been selected for targeting – from mid-2018 to mid-2019, the report said.

    In the absence of forensics, it is not possible to conclusively establish whether Pegasus was deployed against Gandhi, it said.

    In his remarks, Vaishnaw said, “A highly sensational story was published by a web portal yesterday night. The press report appeared a day before the Monsoon session of the Parliament.”

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    “This cannot be a coincidence. In the past similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp. Those reports have no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties. The press report of July 18, 2021 also appeared to be an attempt to malign the Indian democracy and a well-established institution,” the minister said.

    The report has been published by The Wire news portal from India as also 16 other international publications including Washington Post, The Guardian and Le Monde, as media partners to an investigation conducted by Paris-based media non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International into a leaked list of more than 50,000 phone numbers from across the world that are believed to have been the target of surveillance through Pegasus software of Israeli surveillance company NSO Group.

    Also on the list was the personal secretary to Vasundhara Raje Scindia, when she was the BJP’s chief minister in Rajasthan, and Sanjay Kachroo, who worked as an officer on special duty (OSD) for Smriti Irani in her first years as a Union minister in the Modi government from 2014-2015, it said.

    Other junior politicians linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s leader, Pravin Togadia are other individuals whose numbers figure in the database.

    The news portal said the list reveals that several people associated with the functioning of elections were also selected for potential surveillance, including Lavasa, the only member of the 3-member Election Commission to rule that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had violated the Model Code of Conduct while campaigning for the 2019 general election.

    The leaked data also includes Hari Menon, the India head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and at least one other foundation employee, who were selected in mid 2019.

    ALSO READ | Pegasus row: Spyware being used by Centre to crush dissent, says Thirumurugan Gandhi

    Gandhi told The Wire that he had received suspicious WhatsApp messages in the past, one of the known vectors for a spyware hack, and frequently changed numbers and instruments so as to make it “a little harder for them” to target him.

    Asked for his reaction to the news that he had been placed on a list of potential targets for hacking, Gandhi told The Wire, “Targeted surveillance of the type you describe whether in regard to me, other leaders of the opposition or indeed any law-abiding citizen of India is illegal and deplorable.”

    “If your information is correct, the scale and nature of surveillance you describe goes beyond an attack on the privacy of individuals. It is an attack on the democratic foundations of our country. It must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible be identified and punished,” the former Congress chief said.

    ALSO READ | Pegasus spyware: Pakistan PM Imran Khan was potential target of programme, says report

    Such was the apparent interest in Gandhi that the numbers of five of his social friends and acquaintances were also placed on the list of potential targets, the report said.

    Hack not established, says government

    “The consortium has accessed a leaked database of 40,000 numbers. The presence of a number does not indicate whether there was an attempted hack, or a successful one,” Vaishnaw said.

    ADR founder on list

    Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) founder Jagdeep Chhokar, associates of Union minister Smriti Irani and former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia, and around 11 mobile phonesbelonging to a Supreme Court officer who levelled sexual harassment allegations former CJI Ranjan Gogoi were also on the list of potential targets.

    ‘Report by disrupters’

    Union home minister Amit Shah called it a ‘report by disrupters for obstructers’ and said they havebeen amplified by a few whose only aim is to do whatever is possible to humiliate India on world stage.

    IWPC demands independent probe in Pegasus snooping row

    The Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) Monday demanded an independent probe into the use of Pegasus spyware for alleged snooping on journalists.

    In a series of posts on the microblogging site Twitter, the journalist body said it is “unfortunate” that in a democracy like India, journalists have to go through “something like this” in the course of their work.

    “IWPC strongly condemns the spying on the phones of 40 Indian journalists,” it tweeted.

    Citing media reports, the IWPC noted the Israeli software allegedly used for snooping is sold only to the governments.

    “And, as the government has come out with a denial, we demand an independent inquiry in the whole matter,” it said.

    The IWPC said independent journalism is one of the “most important tools” to uphold the rights that the Constitution has vested into the citizens of this country.

    “It is unfortunate that in a democracy like India, journalists have to go through something like this in the course of their work,” the journalist body said, adding “under no circumstances should the independence of media be compromised”.

    (With PTI Inputs)