Supreme Court (File pic)  |  Photo Credit: PTI
New Delhi: A fresh plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a probe into the alleged defence deal between India and Israel to buy sophisticated weapons and Pegasus spyware.
The petition has been filed by senior advocate ML Sharma who sought the formation of a three-member committee to investigate the matter.
According to an NYT report, India bought the Israeli Pegasus spyware in 2017 as part of a USD 2-billion defence deal of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear.
The report titled ‘The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon’, claimed that the spyware, which is classified as military-grade software and produced by the Israeli firm NSO Group, was part of a “package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly USD two billion” between India and Israel.
India had reportedly signed the arms deal during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s landmark visit to Israel – the first by an Indian Prime Minister to that country.
The NYT report triggered a political slugfest with the opposition leaders, including Congress’Rahul Gandhi, accusing the Centre of illegal snooping using the software.
Gandhi tweeted, “Modi Govt bought Pegasus to spy on our primary democratic institutions, politicians and public. Govt functionaries, opposition leaders, armed forces, judiciary all were targeted by these phone tappings. This is treason. Modi Govt has committed treason.”
An international media consortium had last year reported that more than 300 verified mobile phone numbers of eminent personalities, including opposition leaders and ministers in India could have been allegedly targeted for hacking through Israeli Pegasus spyware sold only to government agencies.
The BJP government has categorically dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people, saying attempts were being made to “malign” Indian democracy.
In October last year, the Supreme Court constituted a three-member independent expert panel to probe the alleged use of the Israeli spyware Pegasus, 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.