On Pegasus row, Congress leader Sachin Pilot seeks independent probe; 'govt mustn't run'

Amid the ongoing Pegasus row, Congress leader Sachin Pilot joined his fellow party members in attacking the Centre. Sachin Pilot on Wednesday asked why the government was afraid of a probe if they had nothing to hide. The Congress leader also demanded that the matter must be investigated independently as it included violation of privacy.

Sachin Pilot slams government over Pegasus row 

Expressing his view on the Pegasus row, Sachin Pilot said that the matter must be probed independently. “It's an issue raised in Parliament by Congress. It includes violation of privacy, national security, Official Secrets Act. It must be investigated independently & if govt doesn't have to hide anything, they shouldn't run away from it,” Pilot said.

Earlier, several Congress leaders lashed out at the government over the Pegasus Snoopgate row, including Rahul Gandhi. Responding to the matter, Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at PM Narendra Modi through a tweet. The Congress leader took to his Twitter handle and wrote, “We know what he’s been reading-everything on your phone!” alleging the PM’s involvement in the matter. This comes around a year after Sachin Pilot's camp MLAs were accusing Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot of tapping their phones.

Parliamentary Committee meeting on data privacy 

In a major development, the Parliamentary Committee led by Congress leader Tharoor has decided to hold a meeting on July 28. The Committee will hold the meeting on the subject of 'Citizen’s data security and privacy'. The meeting will also be attended by officials from the Ministry of Information Technology and Home Ministry. The decision to hold a meeting came soon after the opposition upped the ante over the row during the Parliament's Monsoon Session.

Government denies Pegasus report

The Centre has denied all allegations of spying on individuals using the Pegasus spyware. The government dismissed reports alleging that it was using the Israeli spyware to spy over 300 citizens, including 40 journalists. In a rebuttal, the Centre highlighted the Personal Data Protection Bill (2019) currently in the works. Dismissing the opposition's claims, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology asserted that the government was committed to free speech and pointed out that the Centre's RTI response to the use of Pegasus was itself sufficient. 

The Pegasus row

As per media reports, Indian mobile numbers of 40 journalists, businesspersons, one constitutional authority, three opposition leaders and two sitting Ministers in the Union government were included in the list that was targeted using Pegasus. The database also allegedly contained the numbers of activists accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. However, the Israeli technology firm, NSO Group, which created the spyware categorically dismissed these allegations.

IMAGE: PTI