The Supreme Court-constituted expert committee probing the Pegasus spyware matter, on Thursday, 3 February, noted that merely two persons suspecting surveillance through the malware had submitted their phones to the panel so far.
Extending the deadline for submission of phones infected by the Israeli spyware till 8 February, the committee said in a public notice:
"The Technical Committee had issued a Public Notice on January 2, 2022, calling upon the members of the public who had reasonable cause to suspect that her/his mobile instrument had been infected/compromised due to specific usage of Pegasus spyware of the NSO Group to contact to contact the Technical Committee. In response to it, only two persons have produced their mobile instruments for taking digital images."
In the public notice issued on 2 January, the committee had asked citizens who suspected that their devices had been infected with Pegasus to contact the technical panel. The committee had also said that it would request the person to hand over the device for further investigation if needed.
In the recent notice, however, the committee has said, "When an instrument is produced, a digital image will be taken in presence of the person producing the instrument, and immediately thereafter, the instrument will be returned to the person producing it."
NYT Report Says Pegasus Was Bought During PM Modi's Trip to Israel in 2017
A recent New York Times report suggests that India had acquired the spyware during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Israel in 2017.
India's purchase of the spyware, the NYT report alleges, was part of a "package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion" between the Indian and the Israeli governments.
An investigative project conducted by The Wire, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and others had revealed in July 2021 that Israel-made spyware Pegasus was believed to have been used to snoop on at least 300 Indian phone numbers, including those of over 40 senior journalists, opposition leaders, government officials, and rights activists.
The Indian government had subsequently denied any knowledge of the use of Pegasus.
The Supreme Court in October 2021 had ordered the setting up of the expert committee overseen by a retired judge of the apex court to examine the use of Pegasus spyware against Indian citizens.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)