Rahul Gandhi all-in with Supreme Court's Pegasus probe; 'Only PM, HM could order snooping'

Welcoming the Supreme Court verdict on Pegasus snoopgate row, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that the Opposition will raise this issue again in Parliament.

"Pegasus is an attempt to crush Indian democracy. The Supreme Court has taken a big step by saying that it will look into this matter. I am confident that we will get the truth out," he told reporters. 

The apex court bench on Wednesday appointed a technical committee to probe the Pegasus snoop gate allegations. Three experts on cyber security, digital forensics, networks, and hardware will “enquire, investigate and determine” whether Pegasus spyware was used for snooping on citizens.

Stating that Pegasus was used against Chief Ministers, former Prime Ministers as well as BJP ministers, Rahul Gandhi asked if the data obtained through Pegasus was reaching Prime Minister and the Home Minister.

"If the data of phone tapping of Election Commission, CEC and Opposition leaders are going to PM Modi, then it's a criminal act. If the Prime Minister colluded with another nation and attacked its own citizens, including the Chief Justices, former PMs, and other CMs, leaders, then this is an attack on the nation," said Gandhi. 

"We want to ask only 3 questions - Who authorized Pegasus? Because no ordinary man can have access to the data. Who was it used against, and did any other country have access to information of our people?" Rahul Gandhi went on to add.

Rahul Gandhi alleges PM, HM's role in Pegasus row

The Congress leader alleged that only "Prime Minister and the Home Minister" could have ordered the snooping. It is an attack on the institutional structure and the democratic structure of the nation, said Gandhi. 

"We will raise this issue again in Parliament. We will try to have a debate in Parliament. I am sure the BJP will divert it. During the last Parliament session, we raised the Pegasus issue. Today, the Supreme Court has given it opinion and supported what we were saying," he added. 

During Wednesday's hearing, the top court observed that there is a serious concern about the involvement of a foreign agency in spying on Indian citizens.

The bench, led by CJI NV Ramana said, "The state cannot get a free pass every time by raising national security concerns. No omnibus prohibition can be called against judicial review. The Centre should have justified its stand here and not rendered the court a mute spectator."

The technical committee ordered by Supreme Court will constitute three members- National Forensic Sciences University Dean Dr Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham professor Dr Prabhakaran P and IIT Bombay professor Dr Ashwin Anil Gumaste. The panel has been directed to prepare the report after a thorough inquiry and place its report before the SC expeditiously.

What is the Pegasus snoopgate row?

The controversy came to the fore when a report by sixteen media houses claimed that 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers were allegedly spied upon using Israeli surveillance technology firm Pegasus - which only has 36 vetted governments as its clients. The spyware's targets included 40 journalists, businesspersons, one constitutional authority, three opposition leaders, and two sitting Ministers in the Union government.