Parliamentary panel may discuss Pegasus issue on July 28

The panel had previously taken up the Pegasus issue in November 2019

Officials of the Ministries of Home, Information Technology and Telecom are likely to face questions on the Pegasus snooping episode from a Parliamentary panel on July 28 when it meets to discuss citizens' data security and privacy.

The leaked database accessed by French media non-profit Forbidden Stories and shared with an international media consortium including Washington Post, The Guardian and The Wire, had shown that Opposition leaders, journalists, constitutional authorities and activists among others were "potential" targets for surveillance by Israeli spyware Pegasus.

The names of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee, both Lok Sabha MPs, as well as Union Ministers Ashwani Vaishnaw and Prahlad Patel surfaced in the leaked database as potential targets earlier this week.

Read | Mamata Banerjee slams Centre over Pegasus issue, calls for anti-BJP front

Sources said the Opposition MPs will raise the matter in the meeting next Wednesday during which the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology will seek "evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Home Affairs and Department of Telecommunications on the subject of Citizens data security and privacy".

Committee Chairman Shashi Tharoor said three hearings were held on Pegasus in 2019 and the panel heard representatives of hacking victims, and Secretaries of IT, Telecoms and MHA. "This was part of two broader subjects, 'Citizens' Data Privacy and Security' and 'Cyber Security', on which discussions are continuing," he tweeted in response to a question.

The panel had taken up the Pegasus issue in November 2019 despite opposition from the BJP MPs who forced a vote on whether to discuss it or not and lost.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had then told the panel that at least 121 Indians were snooped using Pegasus. However, the government had so far not revealed the names of these 121 people.

Read | How you can be better protected against Pegasus spyware

The issue came up before the panel then after reports emerged that WhatsApp accounts of at least 121 activists and journalists were targeted by Pegasus with the Congress then claiming that its General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi was also a victim.

Tharoor also said, "If it turns out that it's our government and it has authorised to do it, the government needs to give an explanation as the law only permits interception of communication for issues of national security and terrorism. Otherwise, it's illegal. It is essential for the government to cooperate in a probe," Tharoor said on Tuesday.

"It's been proved that phones examined in India had an invasion of Pegasus. Since this product is only sold to vetted governments, the question arises which government? If the government says they haven't done it, or some other government did it, then it's a more serious national security concern," he added.