NHRC chairman, ex-AG Mukul Rohtagi on Pegasus watchlist?

Phone number registered in the name of National Human Rights Commission Chairperson Justice Arun Mishra, two officials of Supreme Court registry, former Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi and counsels of Nirav Modi and Christian Michel are in a leaked database of potential targets for snooping using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

These phone numbers appeared in the leaked database accessed by the French media non-profit Forbidden Stories and shared with an international media consortium, which include Washington Post, The Guardian and The Wire.

The new revealtions came a day before the Supreme Court was to hear petitions urging probe into the Pegasus episode.

Read | SC to hear batch of pleas seeking probe into alleged Pegasus snooping row

The Wire reported that one of the phone numbers registered in the name of Justice Mishra between 18 September, 2010 and 19 September, 2018 is in the leaked database. However, Justice Mishra told The Wire that the number is not with him since 2013-2014 and he does not use this number.

Mishra, who retired from the Supreme Court in September 2020 and was appointed NHRC chairperson earlier this year, also said he had "surrendered the number on 21 April, 2014". The Wire said it was not clear why this number was added to the database in 2019.

One of the numbers on the leaked database belongs to M Thangathurai, a junior lawyer working in the chambers of former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi, The Wire reported.

Thangathurai told The Wire that his telephone number is listed under his boss' name in many places such as the bank and elsewhere so that the senior advocate is not disturbed by "routine" calls, OTPs etc when he is in court or otherwise busy. Rohatgi confirmed that this is indeed the practice, The Wire reported.

The number was added in 2019, two years after Rohatgi demitted office as Attorney General.

Telephone numbers of SC Registry officials N K Gandhi, who is now retired, and T I Rajput also appear in the list. Both of them worked in the 'writ' section of the Supreme Court's Registry.

Traces of Pegasus-associated activity was located in the phone of Aljo P Joseph, the lawyer of Christian Michel who is an accused in AgustaWestland chopper scam.

Fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi’s counsel Vijay Agarwal was added to the database in early 2018, after he signed on his controversial client. The number of the lawyer's wife was also added to the databse.