Pegasus scandal: 'No evidence of snooping,' says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Says ready for discussion in Parliament, claims Opposition not serious

India’s ex-minister for electronics and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad today questioned the opposition on the issue of Pegasus related surveillance and snooping allegations, and said there was no evidence that was being presented to support their claims.

“There is no prima facie evidence. Just before the onset of the parliamentary session a campaign orchestrated by many of the elements hostile to present government comes out,” the senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said.

He further said that the opposition has not presented any proof that Pegasus spyware was used to tap into the phone numbers that were alleged to have been targeted by recent revelations.

“We are ready for a discussion in Parliament. When the Minister made a statement on the issue, these people tore it in front of him. These people are not serious,” Prasad added.

The government has previously denied claims that it had used spyware Pegasus to “compromise” the phone data of some persons.

The list includes senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, political strategist Prashant Kishor,  and even the new IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The entire Opposition walked out last month after the minister’s statement and both houses of Parliament were adjourned. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said the report was “by disrupters for obstructers”.

Vaishnaw, in his statement in the Parliament earlier, said such level of snooping by government wasn’t possible.

He added the snooping allegations report had appeared a day before the monsoon session -- this was not a coincidence. They had appeared earlier as well and had been refuted. And India had “robust” systems to prevent illegal surveillance, he said