Pegasus Case: Editors Guild Asks Justice Raveendran Panel to Take Cognizance of NYT Report
(Judicial Quest News Network)
The Editors Guild of India urged the Justice R.V Raveendran committee to take cognisance of the New York Times Report which claims the purchase of the Pegasus Spyware by India
The Editors Guild of India urged the Justice R V Raveendran committee on Sunday to take cognisance of the “startling claims “made in NYT about the purchase of the Pegasus spyware by India and seek response from the government and ministries that may have been involved in its letter to Justice Raveendran.
The Guild in its letter said ”We urge the committee to take cognisance of these startling claims by one of the most respected news organisations in the world, and to call upon the, Government of India, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, as well as the Secretaries of ministries that may have been involved with claimed purchase of the spyware- Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, as well as any other Ministry that your Lordship / the committee deems fit, as witnesses to the inquiry and seek their response on affidavit, on the aforementioned New York Times report.”
The guild in it’s statement said that it has noted with deep concern the claims made in the report that the Indian and Israeli government “had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $ billion – with Pegasus and Missile system as the centrepieces.
The committee was constituted by Supreme Court of Indi, headed by Justice Raveendran to investigate the use of Pegasus spyware against Indian Citizens.
The letter further said that “The report is a detailed account of the history of NSO, the company that developed and owns Pegasus software, and how the Government of Israel has used the spyware to reap diplomatic gains around the world, including with India.”
The guild also stated that the proceedings of the committee should be kept open to public so that “there is complete transparency with respect to the witnesses being called as well as their responses.
Earlier in November the Guild had written to the committee with suggestion and offered its assistance for the inquiry.
The report published in NYT has led to a heated war of words among Indina politicians ahead of Budget Session of the parliament. Last the the same issue had rocked the Monsoon Session of Indian parliament.
The opposition announced that it would grill the government in parliament citing the report and said that the government had deceived the citizens of the Nation.
Apart from congress the Trinamool Congress, CPM, RJD, NCP and the Shiv Sena too, asked the Government to come out of its “denial mode “and acknowledge its role in targeting political leaders, Journalists, Judges and civil society activists using the spyware.
Congress leader Chidambaram took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s messages on the eve of the 30 years ties between India and Israel amid the letters over the Pegasus controversy coming close on the wheels of the budget session.
He urged the PM to ask Israel if the later has any advanced version
Of the Pegasus spyware that was bought by the Modi government as part of $billion deal with Israel for military hardware and intelligence tools in 2017 as reported by the New York Times. He said that the country can do better with a more sophisticated software ahead of the 2024 general election and pay the Israeli company even $4 billion.
Addressing a press conference, Leader of opposition I Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that the Modi Government has been caught lying to Parliament that they had nothing to do with Pegasus and never brought the spyware from NSO group/ He said that the government has also misled the Supreme Court.” We will ensure that those guilty will be held accountable and raise tis vociferously in parliament.
Senior Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi tweeted “Modi Government bought the Pegasus to spy on our primary democratic institutions, politicians and public. Government functionaries, opposition leaders, armed forces, Judiciary all were targeted by these phone tapings/ this is treason.
Meanwhile an AOR of Supreme Court Mr.ML Sharma, who is one of the original petitioners of the case before the top court, said the deal was not approved by the Parliament and therefore, needs to be cancelled and money be recovered. He urged the top court to issue suitable directions for registering a criminal case and to investigate the impugned spyware purchase deal and alleged misuse of public funds in the interest of Justice
