Pegasus Case: BJP, Congress Trade Barbs Over SC Findings, Rahul Gandhi Says Govt Had 'Something To Hide'

The Supreme Court said the technical panel appointed by it to probe the unauthorised use of Pegasus has found some malware in five mobile phones out of the 29 examined.

Soon after the Supreme Court's observations in the Pegasus matter, both Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) traded barbs on Thursday with Rahul Gandhi claiming that government's "non-cooperation" was an acceptance that it had "something deeper to hide" in the issue. Taking to Twitter, the former Congress President also slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that the BJP-led Central government wants to crush democracy.

"PM and his government's non-cooperation with the SC appointed committee is an acceptance that they had something deeper to hide and want to crush democracy," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet.

The Pegasus panel, in its report submitted in the Supreme Court, said the presence of controversial Israeli spyware Pegasus was not conclusively established in 29 mobile phones examined, and also the Central government did not cooperate in the probe.

Giving it back to the grand old party, BJP termed Opposition's attack on Modi government over the Pegasus issue was a "motivated campaign" meant to weakening and defaming the Prime Minister and the country.

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad attacked Rahul Gandhi and asked weather the Congress will apologise after the Supreme Court-appointed panels found some kind of malware in five mobile phones.

Addressing a press conference earlier in the day, Prasad said this has exposed the disinformation campaign of those who had accused the government of using the spyware to snoop on politicians, including of the BJP, and others.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the orders of the SC today expose the fault lines in our administration of law.

"Three orders of the SC today expose the fault lines in our administration of law. SC revealed Committee's Report in the Pegasus case which indicted the NDA government for not cooperating with the Committee, he tweeted.

"What do the orders show? That we make bad laws, interpret them wrongly, apply them with bias, and the government is not beyond spying on its own people. Is this a country governed by the Rule of Law?, Chidambaram said in another tweet.