Pegasus Row: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Writes To LS Speaker, Demands Privilege Motion Against IT Minister

Chowdhury said the Central government always maintained on the floor of the House that it had nothing to do with Pegasus and that it never bought the spyware from the NSO Group.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (File Photo/Getty Images)

New Delhi: Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has written to Speaker Om Birla demanding that a privilege motion be moved against Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for allegedly misleading the Parliament on the Pegasus issue.

Chowdhury said the Central government always maintained on the floor of the House that it had nothing to do with Pegasus and that it never bought the spyware from the NSO Group.

“In light of the latest revelations by New York Times, it appears that the Modi government has misled Parliament and the Supreme Court and lied to the people of India,” Chowdhury wrote in his letter, PTI reported.

“In view of the above, I demand that a privilege motion may be initiated against the Minister of Information Technology for deliberately misleading the House on the Pegasus issue,” he added.

The Congress leader also alleged that the ruling dispensation “lied to the Supreme Court when it was directly questioned about the purchase and deployment of Pegasus”.

He pointed out that the Centre in a sworn affidavit unequivocally denied “any and all” of the allegations against it on the Pegasus issue.

The Congress leader’s letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker comes just days ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament.

A united Opposition is expected to corner Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on the issue in both houses of Parliament.

The Pegasus issue rocked the 2021 Monsoon Session of Parliament as well when the Opposition demanded a discussion on the issue.

The New York Times has in an investigation report titled “The Battle for the World’s Most Powerful Cyberweapon” said the Israeli spyware Pegasus was sold to India in 2017.

“In July 2017, Narendra Modi, who won office on a platform of Hindu nationalism, became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel,” the report published in the New York Times on Friday said.

“For decades, India had maintained a policy of what it called ‘commitment to the Palestinian cause,’ and relations with Israel were frosty,” the report added.

The report further said Prime Minister Modi’s “visit, however, was notably cordial, complete with a carefully staged moment of him” and then Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu “walking together barefoot on a local beach”.

“They had reason for the warm feelings. Their countries had agreed on the sale of a package of sophisticated weapons and intelligence gear worth roughly $2 billion — with Pegasus and a missile system as the centerpieces,” the report added.