Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleges Centre misleading Parliament, SC on Pegasus

Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday alleged that the Central government is misleading the Parliament, the Supreme Court and the people on the Pegasus matter.

Speaking to ANI today, the Congress leader said, "We have moved the Privilege motion in House on Pegasus. This government is misleading the House, Supreme Court, people...As Opposition, it's our responsibility to raise this issue; Centre attempting to spread lies about it (Pegasus)."

As the Union Budget session begins on Monday, Congress has planned to target the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Central government on the issue of Pegasus snooping.

Speaking with ANI, the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the Centre and said that the Monsoon session of the Parliament was affected due to the Pegasus issue.

"We had been saying from the beginning. Monsoon Session was affected due to this; the ruling party had said that Opposition isn't allowing Parliament to function, but the truth has come out," he said.

"We will raise this issue, Opposition has to agree on how to take it forward," he added.Claiming that the Pegasus is undermining India's democratic structure, freedom of speech, Kharge said, "The government is snatching people's freedom by spying on Opposition leaders, Judiciary, and even journalists and bureaucrats."

In July 2021, names of several Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and over 40 Indian journalists appeared on the leaked list of potential targets for surveillance by an unidentified agency using Pegasus spyware, according to a report published in The Wire.

However, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav had attacked the reports of India's Pegasus use as "baseless" and "highly sensational".

The Supreme Court, had in October last year, formed a three-member committee to oversee a technical committee comprising three members, including those who are experts in cyber security, digital forensics, networks, and hardware, which will probe Pegasus spyware case.