Pegasus Case: SC-Appointed Committee Extends Timeline Till Feb 8 For Affected People To Come Forward

The technical committee appointed by the Supreme Court looking into the Pegasus issue has decided to extend the timeline for affected persons to turn up before the panel.

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed technical committee looking into the Pegasus issue has extended the timeline for affected persons to turn up before the panel.

This comes as only two persons affected by the Pegasus spyware have so far pledged to give their phones to the SC-appointed technical committee, news agency PTI reported. 

The technical committee has now given time till February 8, for more people to contact the panel if they suspected that their devices were infected by the spyware.

Issuing a public notice, the SC-appointed panel informed that in response to its initial appeal to the public in January, only two persons have produced their mobile instruments for taking digital images.

"Therefore, the technical committee once again requests those who have reasonable causes to believe their mobile instrument is infected with Pegasus spyware to come forward and contact the technical committee with reasons as to why they believe that their mobile instrument may have been infected with Pegasus malware on or before February 8, 2022, by an email...," it stated, as quoted by PTI.

The previous notice last month had mentioned a timeline of January 7, 2022.

The development comes after fresh allegations in the Pegasus spyware matter.

A recent New York Times report claimed that India bought Pegasus spyware as part of a USD 2 billion defence deal with Israel in 2017. The report triggered a major controversy wherein the Opposition once again scaled up its attack on the BJP-led Union government with regard to the issue.

According to a report in The New York Times, the Israeli spyware Pegasus and a missile system were the “centerpieces” of a roughly USD 2-billion deal between India and Israel in 2017 involving sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear.

Congress accused the Centre of deceiving Parliament, duping the Supreme Court, hijacking democracy, and indulging in treason.

"The Modi Government bought Pegasus to spy on our primary democratic institutions, politicians, and public. Government functionaries, opposition leaders, armed forces, judiciary all were targeted by these phone tappings. This is treason," Rahul Gandhi alleged.

"The Modi Government has committed treason," he wrote on Twitter.

The principal opposition party had also urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the matter and initiate appropriate penal proceedings against the government for attempting to "deliberately and knowingly deceive" the apex court.

(With Agency Inputs)