Pegasus: The National Assembly accused the Government of misleading the National Assembly, to raise the issue in the budget session

On Saturday, Congress launched an all-out attack on the government, accusing the government of misleading Congress, deceiving the Supreme Court, usurping democracy and treason, after a media report India announced the purchase of Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a defense deal in 2017.

The Conference said it plans to raise the issue during the budget session starting next week and ask for accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP government on the floor of Parliament.

The main opposition party also called on the Supreme Court to become fully aware of the matter and initiate appropriate criminal proceedings against the government for deliberately “deliberately and intentionally misleading”.

With the Congress making its intentions clear, the darkness of Pegasus The issue came up again during the 2022 budget session as the entire 2021 Monsoon session was scrapped after the Opposition collectively stalled proceedings on the matter.

According to a report in The New York Times, Israeli Pegasus spyware and a missile system are “at the heart” of a deal worth about $2 billion (about Rs 15,000) in weapons and intelligence equipment. sophisticated between India and Israel in 2017.

Former Speaker of the National Assembly Rahul Gandhi accused the government of treason by “eavesdropping” on the phones of opposition leaders, the armed forces and the judiciary using the Pegasus spyware.

“The Modi government bought Pegasus to spy on the main democratic institutions, our politicians and the public. Government authorities, opposition leaders, armed forces, judiciary are all targets of wiretapping. This is treason,” Gandhi said on Twitter.

“The Modi government has committed treason,” he accused.

Speaking at a press conference here on the matter, National Assembly Secretary General and chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala accused the Modi government of “deceiving” Parliament as well as “deceiving” the Supreme Court.

He said the BJP apparatus is engaged in a grand strategy also to “defraud” the people of the country as it is now clear that the government led by Prime Minister Modi has “purchased illegal and unconstitutional spyware.” ” from Israel and use it against opposition leaders, the judiciary, the media, and even its own authorities.

He accused the government of using public money to illegally buy cyber tools and spy on its own people, and thus “appropriate” democracy. He alleges that they committed treason before the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

“It is now very clear that the National Assembly has been deceived by the Modi government, the Supreme Court has also been deceived and the people of India have been deceived by the Modi government and its ministers,” said Surjewala, co-chairing Surjewala. time added that these are now clear, its role. of the prime minister and his responsibilities are now laid out directly.

“We will seek accountability from the prime minister on a Parliamentary basis, along with government accountability in the people’s courts,” he said.

“We will call on the Supreme Court to take note and bring appropriate criminal proceedings against this government for deliberately misleading the Supreme Court,” Surjewala said.

It is treason, it is a democratic usurpation, and it is a form of deception and a systematic attack on the fundamental rights of privacy and the destruction of national security, considering all who has been illegally and unconstitutionally monitored by this government.”

Opposition leader Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, who joined him at the press conference, said as the government “wasn’t ready to discuss the Pegasus issue as per our request (during the Monsoonth National Assembly Session of the year). last year), which shows that they want to hide something from the people of the country.” He alleges that the money belongs to the public but these people are using it to snoop on those who oppose them.

Kharge said if the government is doing it for the safety and security of the country that is fine, but “they are using it against opposition leaders, ministers and authorities”. government, judiciary and media”.

“They lied in Congress,” he alleged.

“If the government has the guts, they should file an allegation against the New York Times, which published the report saying the government bought spyware. The truth is out now,” Kharge said.

When asked if they would seek a Joint Parliamentary Committee poll again, the LOP said, “We’ll see what kind of poll needs to be done, we’ll discuss. also raised this issue before and we will raise it in Parliament now.”

Surjewala previously alleged that the defense budget of the National Security Council (NSCS) Secretariat reporting to the NSA increased from Rs 33 Crore to Rs 333 Crore in 2017-18.

He said that following the report, it became clear that the Modi government purchased Pegasus spyware in 2017 and other military technologies as “at the heart” of a package that included “valuable weapons and intelligence equipment” about $2 billion” from Israel during Prime Minister Modi’s visit.

“The Modi government is the one who launched and carried out the illegal and unconstitutional snooping and espionage campaign through the Israeli Pegasus surveillance spyware, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself was involved,” he said.

The leader of the National Assembly accused: “This is an act of usurping democracy and blatant treason.

The government has denied all charges upon the Opposition.