Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas reaches Supreme Court, demands court-monitored investigation
Pegasus issue : Rajya Sabha member John Brittas has moved the Supreme Court requesting a court-monitored inquiry into the alleged spying of activists, politicians, journalists and constitutional functionaries through the Israeli spyware Pegasus. Recent media reports claimed that Pegasus spyware was used to monitor around 300 Indians, including ministers, politicians, government officials and journalists. This has triggered a major political dispute in the country. Britas, who has filed a PIL in the Supreme Court, said the recent allegations of espionage have created concern among a large section of people in India and that espionage will have a profound impact on freedom of expression. He has requested a court-monitored investigation into allegations of spying through Pegasus spyware. Britas, a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), said in a statement on Sunday that despite its very serious nature, the central government has not bothered to conduct an inquiry into the allegations on the issue. “Therefore, questions were raised in this regard in Parliament. But the government has neither denied nor acknowledged spying by spyware.
On the Pegasus dispute, the government had said that when there is already a system of control and surveillance in the country, then illegal surveillance by an unauthorized person is not possible. Britas also claimed on Sunday that the allegations lead to two conclusions, either espionage by the government or by a foreigner. He said that if it was done by the government then it was done in an unauthorized manner. If there is espionage by any foreign agency then it is a matter of outside interference and it needs to be dealt with seriously.
