CONGRESS alleges Pegasus-like phone hacking ahead of 2024 polls.
Opponent:- Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s reaction came over a Financial Times report which claimed that the Centre is looking to acquire a new spyware with a lower profile than the controver Pegasus system and is seeking to spend up to 120 million through new spyware contracts.
New Delhi:- Congress reacted strongly to a media report that the Centre was looking to purchase a spyware system with a lesser profile than the infamous Pegasus system, claiming that the ruling BJP government was planning to hack the phones of people with foreign help in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The Congress reacted strongly to the Financial Times report, which stated that the Centre was seeking to purchase new spyware systems with a smaller profile than the Pegasus system, and was willing to spend as much as USD 120 million on new spyware agreements. Ramesh accused the government of having used Pegasus to spy on citizens, the Opposition, the judiciary, the election commissioner, and journalists before the last general election. Now, he said, a conspiracy to hack people’s phones with foreign help was afoot.
The senior Congress leader called it a direct attack on democracy.
In its report, the Financial Times claimed that a dozen competitors are expected to join the bidding process, stepping into the void created by the pressure on NSO, the Israeli makers of Pegasus, from human rights groups and the administration of US President Joe Biden.
WHAT WAS THE PEGASUS CONTROVERSY?
In 2021, a group of experts from around the world said that over 300 phone numbers, including those of Union ministers, opposition leaders, activists, business people and journalists, could have been targeted by NSO Group Technologies’ Pegasus spyware. But the government denied the allegations and said it didn’t have any info about the issue. Now, a court-appointed panel is looking into the alleged use of the spyware. The panel was set up by the Supreme Court in October 2021 and is made up of retired judges, including Justice Raveendran. They’re looking into the complaint that NSO Group Technologies used Pegasus spyware illegally against Indian citizens.
