News Analysis India

Tag: Pegasus

  • ‘Supari Media’: Union minister Gen VK Singh slams The New York Times over Pegasus deal report

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Union minister Gen VK Singh on Saturday called The New York Times “Supari Media” over its report which claimed that the Indian government bought the Pegasus spy tool in 2017 as part of a deal with Israel.

    The Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the “centrepieces” of a roughly USD 2 billion deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear between India and Israel in 2017, according to the report in The New York Times.

    ALSO READ| Opposition slams Modi government over New York Times report on Pegasus deal

    A massive controversy erupted last year when the NSO Group hit the headlines with the alleged use of its Pegasus software by some governments to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a number of countries, including India, triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.

    Reacting to NYT’s report, Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways and Civil Aviation, said on Twitter: “Can you trust NYT?? They are known “Supari Media”. Singh is also a former Indian Army chief.

  • Activist Rona Wilson’s phone infected with Pegasus spyware, says new forensic analysis

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Activist Rona Wilson’s smartphone was infiltrated using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware a year before his arrest in the Elgar Parishad case, according to new forensic analysis.

    Wilson, a prisoners’ rights activist and academic, was a victim of “surveillance and incriminating document delivery” for close to a year before his arrest in June 2018, according to the analysis.

    Digital forensics firm Arsenal Consulting said Wilson’s Apple phone was not just selected for surveillance by a client of Israel’s NSO Group but was also successfully compromised on many occasions.

    The analysis showed that two backups of the iPhone 6s belonging to Wilson had digital traces showing infection by the Pegasus surveillance tool, which its developer, the Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group, has said has been licensed only to government agencies.

    The Indian government has neither confirmed nor denied that it is an NSO Group client.

    V Suresh, National General Secretary of People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) said the new findings show compelling evidence in the case.

    “Now there is compelling evidence. We are exploring all legal possibilities to validate these findings based on the new type of electronic evidence,” Suresh told PTI.

  • No point raising Pegasus; Opposition should not link Parliament session with polls: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: With the Congress set to raise the Pegasus snooping allegations in Parliament again, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Sunday said what is the point of disrupting the House over issues that are “not based on facts”, and also asserted that the Opposition should avoid linking the upcoming Winter session with assembly polls.

    The deputy leader of Rajya Sabha said the government is ready to discuss and debate all issues on the basis of the decision of the chair in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

    In an interview with PTI, Naqvi also took a dig at the Congress over disruptions in previous parliamentary sessions, saying that in the last seven years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established that “democracy delivers” and “dynasty disturbs”.

    Asked about the Opposition unity during the last session of Parliament, he said the BJP and Prime Minister Modi believe that there should be a “mazboot (strong)” not “majboor (helpless)” Opposition, but unfortunately in their scramble to lead the Opposition, the influence of such parties is getting diminished.

    “They should unite on issues. Last time they united just to disrupt,” he said.

    The Cabinet Committee on Parliament Affairs has recommended that the Winter session of Parliament be held from November 29 to December 23, according to sources.

    Asked about the Congress’ assertion that it will raise the Pegasus snooping allegations in Parliament again, Naqvi said what they have decided is not important, whatever is decided with unanimity, the government will stand by that.

    “Till when will they drag their stories and tales about spying. There is no point of raising it. These are issues that are not based on facts or logic. So, if you want to disrupt the House over illogical issues, it is up to you,” the Minority Affairs Minister said.

    Hitting out at the Congress, Naqvi said, “We were ready to discuss price rise last time, we also fixed the time. Pegasus has been discussed many times and they have been exposed every time.”

    The Supreme Court has given its verdict and also other agencies have made their stand clear but the problem with the Congress is that it is “the James Bond of spying”, the minister said.

    When in Opposition, the Congress creates a “hullabaloo” over spying and when in power it spreads a “web of surveillance”, Naqvi alleged.

    The Congress’ history is such that they have even spied on their own home minister and finance minister, he claimed.

    “So, all this is fake and fabricated but despite that whatever the chair decides, will be discussed,” he added.

    Last month, after the Supreme Court order appointing a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the Pegasus snooping allegations, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had asserted at a press conference that the party will raise the issue again and will try to have a debate in Parliament.

    Naqvi stressed that the government maintains a constant line of communication open with the Opposition for the smooth functioning of the House.

    Asserting that in the previous sessions the Opposition has been found linking the Parliament session with assembly polls, he said if this continues justice will not be done to parliamentary responsibilities.

    “What we have seen traditionally is that Opposition raises issues, there is an all-party meeting and there is a business advisory committee meeting on it to decide, but unfortunately even last time, Parliament session happened close to assembly polls and this time also it is closer to 4-5 assembly polls. If we see the session by linking it to polls we will not be able to do justice to our parliamentary duties,” he said.

    Naqvi hoped that the discussions would take place on all important issues and the upcoming Winter session would be productive.

    He alleged that till now it has been seen that the Opposition sees parliamentary sessions by linking it with polls.

    “Problem is that they do not have support on the ground and that is why they create a furore inside the House,” he said, hitting out at the Opposition.

    On the unruly scenes witnessed in Rajya Sabha on the last day of the Monsoon session, the Rajya Sabha deputy leader said the issue is before the chair and will be decided by it.

    “Our appeal is that our Parliament and parliamentary democracy are the strongest in the world and we should not do anything that harms it,” Naqvi said.

    Asked about the farmers’ protests and the announcement that they would march to Parliament during the Winter session, Naqvi said the government was always open to dialogue and had never put a “no talks” board for the farmers.

    “We appeal to (farmer leaders) to listen, till when will you keep getting exploited. The political parties that are exploiting you are not for your or for farmers welfare,” he said.

    Naqvi said that in the name of farmers, some people for their own benefit have “hijacked this agitation”.

    He said there were three main farmers’ issues, which have been “resolved”.

    “The government has talked about the guarantee of MSP a 1,000 times, both inside and outside Parliament. Then there was the issue of protection of ‘Mandis’. ‘Mandis’ were, are and will remain protected and are flourishing. And, finally the protection of the farmers’ land has been guaranteed in the farm laws. These issues have been resolved,” Naqvi said.

    “Some people want to create confusion, spread fear and misinformation. The government has played its role both inside and outside Parliament (on the farmers’ issues),” he added.

  • Buyer was certainly Modi government: Chidambaram on Israeli envoy’s remarks on Pegasus

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday attacked the Centre over the Pegasus snooping matter citing the Israeli envoy’s remarks that his country does not allow firms like NSO to sell products to non-governmental actors, and claimed that in India’s case, the “buyer was certainly the government of India”.

    The Supreme Court on Wednesday set up a three-member independent expert panel to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for targeted surveillance in India, observing the state cannot get a “free pass” every time the spectre of national security is raised and that its mere invocation cannot render the judiciary a “mute spectator” and be the bugbear it shies away from.

    “After the SC’s wise and bold order in the Pegasus controversy, the first skeleton has tumbled out. Yesterday, Israel’s Ambassador publicly stated that Pegasus spyware was sold only to government. So, in India’s case, the buyer was certainly the Government of India,” Chidambaram tweeted.

    Will the Minister for Telecommunications admit that the buyer of Pegasus was the government of India, he asked.

    “If he remains silent, the blot on his report card will remain,” Chidambaram said.

    Israel’s newly-appointed Israeli Ambassador to India Naor Gilon said on Thursday said Israel does not allow companies like NSO to sell their products to non-governmental actors.

    “Every export of NSO or such companies needs an export licence of the Israeli government. We grant this export licence only for exporting to governments,” he had said.

    “This is the only main requirement. Under the requirements, they cannot sell it to non-governmental actors. What’s happening here in India is an internal thing for India and I would rather not go into your internal matters,” Gilon said.

    In a significant verdict over the issue of protecting citizens’ right to privacy that was welcomed by legal experts, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana asserted that in a democratic country governed by the rule of law, indiscriminate spying on individuals cannot be allowed except with sufficient statutory safeguards by following the procedure established by law under the Constitution.

  • Will wait for the communication from SC: Justice Raveendran on monitoring Pegasus probe

    By PTI

    BENGALURU: Former Supreme Court judge R V Raveendran, who has been tasked with monitoring the probe into the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for targeted surveillance in India, said on Thursday he has not yet received the order to comment on it.

    “I do not know because I have not received the order,” Justice Raveendran told PTI, replying to a query on the scope of investigation.

    “Until I receive the order and communication from the Supreme Court I will not know anything,” the 75-year-old veteran legal luminary said.

    Hearing a batch of petitions on Wednesday, a bench headed by CJI N V Ramana appointed a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the allegations and gave the task of monitoring the inquiry into the politically sensitive case to Justice Raveendran.

    “Justice R V Raveendran, former Judge, Supreme Court of India will oversee the functioning of the Committee with respect to the methodology to be adopted, procedure to be followed, enquiry and investigation that is carried out and preparation of the report,” the CJI said in the order on pleas seeking independent probe into the allegations of snooping on Indian citizens by use of Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus.

  • ‘Perturbed’ by many persons ‘politely declining’ to be part of Pegasus probe panel: Chidambaram

    The Supreme Court on Wednesday set up a three-member independent expert panel to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for targeted surveillance in India.

  • After SC order on Pegasus, Rahul Gandhi says Oppn’s stand vindicated, steps up attack on government

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The “use” of Israeli spyware Pegasus was an attempt to crush Indian democracy and the Supreme Court order appointing a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the snooping allegations is a “big step” that will help bring out the truth, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday.

    Addressing a press conference here after the Supreme Court hearing, Gandhi fired a fresh salvo at the Modi government as he contended that only the prime minister or the home minister could have ordered the use of Pegasus spyware, and said that if the PM was “using this as a personal tool”, then it is “totally criminal”.

    He said the Supreme Court’s opinion on Wednesday “basically supported” what the Opposition parties had been saying and they will again raise the issue in Parliament demanding a debate on it.

    The opposition had disrupted proceedings during the last monsoon session with vociferous protests over the Pegasus issue after an international investigative consortium claimed that many Indian ministers, politicians, activists, businessmen and journalists were potentially targeted by the Israeli company NSO Group’s phone hacking software.

    In a suo motu statement in Parliament, IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had dismissed the reports, saying that with several checks and balances being in place, “any sort of illegal surveillance” by unauthorised persons is not possible in India.

    He had said the allegations levelled just ahead of the monsoon session are aimed at maligning Indian democracy. Gandhi on Wednesday said that they had raised the Pegasus issue during the last Parliament session “because we felt that it was an attack on the democratic structure, on the foundations of our nation”.

    “We had jointly blocked Parliament. And today the Supreme Court has given its opinion and basically supported what we were saying,” the former Congress chief said.

    “We were asking three basic questions — who authorised Pegasus, which agency, which person authorised Pegasus as we all know Pegasus cannot be bought by a private individual, it has to be bought by a government; the second question was who was it used against and the final thing was, did any other country have access to information of our people,” he said.

    No answers were given to these questions, Gandhi alleged. “We welcome the Supreme Court order in the Pegasus matter. It is not a matter of politics, it is an attack on the democratic structure of the country, on the people and on their freedom.

    “Only two people can direct this attack and when the truth comes out they will have no answers,” the Congress leader later said in a tweet in Hindi.

    The Pegasus is an “attempt to crush Indian democracy and make sure that the vibrancy of the democracy, the conversation that takes place in a democracy are crushed and the people are controlled”, Gandhi told reporters He said it is a “big step that the Supreme Court has said that they are going to look into this matter. I am confident that we will get the truth out of this”.

    Responding to a question, Gandhi said he hoped the Supreme Court will do its job and provide justice.

    “But this is a deeper problem. If the prime minister is using this as a personal tool, if the data is arriving on the prime minister’s desk, then that is totally criminal, and we will follow that up,” he said.

    Gandhi also claimed that the government of Karnataka was toppled using the Pegasus spyware and central institutions of the country were being “attacked” using the spyware.

    “We all know that is not the only attack that is taking place, there are many different ways in which the idea of India is being attacked.

    “Pegasus is of course a particularly nasty and a subversive way of doing it. It is a way basically to control the politics of the country, to frighten people, to blackmail them not allowing the democratic process to work,” he alleged.

    The Congress is happy that the Supreme Court has accepted to look into this,” he said “We will raise this again and we will try to have a debate in Parliament.

    I am sure the BJP will not like that debate so they will make sure that debate is stalled but we will try to hold that debate,” he said.

    The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India, saying every citizen needs protection against privacy violation and mere invocation of “national security by State” does not render the court a “mute spectator”.

    Finding material that “prima facie merits consideration”, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli declined to allow the Centre to appoint an expert panel on its own, saying such a course would violate the settled judicial principle against bias.

    Three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware were roped in by the Supreme Court to “enquire, investigate and determine” whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens and their probe would be monitored by former apex court judge R V Raveendran.

    The experts — Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P and Ashwin Anil Gumaste — would report to Justice Raveendran.

  • ‘Satyamev Jayate’: Congress welcomes SC order on Pegasus snooping matter

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday welcomed the Supreme Court order of setting up an expert committee on the Pegasus spyware issue, and said it has negated alleged attempts of the government to evade and divert attention in the name of national security.

    “Pseudo-Nationalism is the last refuge of cowardly fascists everywhere,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.

    “Welcome SC order setting up Special Committee to examine misuse of spyware Pegasus despite Modi Government’s embarrassing attempts to evade, avoid and divert attention in the name of National Security. Satyamev Jayate,” he said.

    The Supreme Court has appointed a three-member panel of experts to probe into the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of some persons, saying every citizens needs protection against violation of privacy.

    The court was hearing pleas seeking independent probe into reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Pegasus.

    An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

  • ‘Right to Privacy violation needs to be examined’: SC forms commitee to probe Pegasus

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Noting there is no clear stand of the Centre on the Pegasus spyware case, the Supreme Court on Wednesday formed a three-member committee to probe the “falsity and discover the truth” in the matter.

    A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana passed the order on a batch of pleas seeking an independent court-monitored probe into the alleged Pegasus spyware case.

    Supreme Court said it has chosen renowned experts to be a part of the three-member Committee. The committee will be headed by RV Raveendran, former Supreme Court Judge and also comprise Alok Joshi and Sandeep Oberoi.

    Court noted that there is a serious concern of foreign agency involvement by surveilling Indians, and said, “Right to Privacy violation needs to be examined.”

    Quoting George Orwell, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said, “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”

    The court noted that some of the petitioners are direct victims of pegasus. “It is incumbent upon the Centre to seriously consider the use of such a technology,” it said.

    The bench further said that it has discussed the need for protecting the right to privacy in India. “We live in the era of information and we must recognise while technology is important it is important to safeguard the right to privacy, not only to journalists but privacy is important for all citizens,” it added.

    “Initially when petitions were filed, the court was not satisfied with petitions filed based on newspaper reports, however, various other petitions were filed by the ones who were direct victims,” noted the court.

    Earlier, the Bench had said that it intends to set up an expert committee to probe into the reports alleging the government of using Israeli software Pegasus to spy on politicians, activists, and journalists.

    The Centre had earlier told the apex court that it was willing to set up a committee of independent experts to examine all aspects of the alleged Pegasus snooping row. It had maintained that what software was used for an interception in the interest of national security can’t be open for public debate.

    The Centre had offered to set up a Committee comprising independent experts to inquire whether Pegasus was used to snoop on phones. It had said the matter can be inquired into by a committee of independent domain experts and the report can be filed before the top court.

    The government had also contended that it is willing to place the details of surveillance before the expert committee proposed to be constituted by it to examine the issues and the committee can give a report to the Supreme Court.

    The petitioners’ lawyers had repeatedly told the Bench that the Central government has evaded answering the question if it or any of its agencies have ever used the Pegasus spyware and urged the court to direct the government to come clean on this issue.

    There are many pleas filed before the top court by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas of Communist Marxist Party of India (Marxist) and advocate ML Sharma, former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, RSS ideologue KN Govindacharya, seeking inquiry headed by a sitting or retired judge of the top court to investigate the alleged snooping.

    Journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, SNM Abdi, Prem Shankar Jha, Rupesh Kumar Singh and Ipsa Shatakshi, who are reported to be on the potential list of snoop targets of Pegasus spyware, had also approached the top court along with The Editors Guild of India (EGI) among others.

    The plea said that the targeted surveillance using military-grade spyware is an unacceptable violation of the right to privacy which has been held to be a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21 by the Supreme Court in the KS Puttaswamy case (2017).

    In July, names of over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a report published in The Wire.

  • ‘Can’t be a mute spectator, charges need to be examined’: SC forms commitee to probe Pegasus

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a three-member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India, saying every citizen needs protection against privacy violation and mere invocation of “national security by State” does not render the court a “mute spectator”.

    Finding material that “prima facie merits consideration”, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli declined the Centre’s plea to appoint expert panel on its own, saying such a course would violate settled judicial principle against bias.

    The top court urged its former judge Justice R V Raveendran to oversee the functioning of the three member panel and sought a report expeditiously from the committee.

    It posted the batch of pleas in the matter, including the ones filed by Editors Guild of India and veteran journalists N Ram and Shashi Kumar, for hearing after eight weeks.

    The bench took note of the vehement submissions of the Centre on national security and rejected it saying,

    “This does not mean that the State gets a free pass every time the spectre of ‘national security’ is raised.”

    “National security cannot be the bugbear that the judiciary shies away from, by virtue of its mere mentioning. Although this Court should be circumspect in encroaching the domain of national security, no omnibus prohibition can be called for against judicial review.”

    Pronouncing the verdict, the CJI said the Centre “must justify the stand that they take before a Court. The mere invocation of national security by the State does not render the Court a mute spectator”.

    Justice Raveendran will oversee functioning of the panel of “cyber security, digital forensics, networks and hardware” and the three members are: Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P and Ashwin Anil Gumaste.

    The apex court said that former IPS officer Alok Joshi and Sundeep Oberoi — Chairman, Sub Committee in (International Organisation of Standardisation/ International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee) — will assist Justice Raveendran to oversee the task to the committee.

    The top court said that in this world of conflicts it was an extremely uphill task to find and select experts who are free from prejudices, are independent and competent, rather than relying upon any government agencies or any private entity.

    “We make it clear that our effort is to uphold Constitutional aspirations and rule of law, without allowing ourselves to be consumed in political rhetoric,” the bench said, adding that this court has always been conscious of not entering political thicket.

    “Members of civilized democratic society have reasonable expectation of privacy. Privacy is not singular concern of journalists or social activists,” the bench said.

    In a democratic country governed by rule of law, indiscriminate spying on individuals cannot be allowed except with sufficient statutory safeguards, by following procedure established by law under Constitution, it said.

    The bench had reserved order on September 13, saying it only wanted to know whether or not the Centre used the Pegasus spyware through illegal methods to allegedly snoop on citizens.

    The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking independent probe into the alleged Pegasus snooping matter.

    The pleas seeking independent probe are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus.

    An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.