John Brittas, a Rajya Sabha member, has petitioned the Supreme Court for a court-monitored investigation into allegations that Israeli spyware Pegasus was used to snoop on activists, politicians, journalists, and constitutional functionaries. Pegasus spyware was allegedly used to conduct surveillance on about 300 Indians, including ministers, political leaders, government officials, and journalists, according to media reports.
Brittas, who has filed a public interest litigation in the Supreme Court, said that recent allegations of snooping has caused concern among a large section of people in India and that snooping would have a chilling effect on free speech and expression.
Brittas, who is a member of the CPI-M, said in a statement on Sunday that despite the serious nature of the allegations, the central government has ‘made only a hopeful hope that the time-tested processes in our country are well-established to ensure that unauthorized surveillance does not occur.’
‘Therefore, the queries were raised in the Indian Parliament with respect to this leakage. But the government has neither denied nor admitted the snooping by the spyware,’ he said.
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