- Monday, February 24, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE eastern Indian state of West Bengal on Monday (26) ordered an inquiry into the ongoing Pegasus snooping row in which the Narendra Modi government has been accused of running a surveillance state. The state, ruled by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) of chief minister Mamata Banerjee, one of Modi’s most vocal critics, became the first to make such a move, she said.
Addressing the media at the state secretariat before leaving for New Delhi on Monday, the firebrand leader said, “The Cabinet has approved the appointment of a commission of inquiry comprising former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retd) MB Lokur and retired chief justice of Calcutta high court, Justice (retd) Jyotirmay Bhattacharya in exercise of the power conferred by section 3 of the Commission of Enquiry Act, 1952 in the matter of widely reported illegal hacking, monitoring, putting under surveillance, tracking, recording etc of mobile phones of various persons in the state of West Bengal.”
The Pegasus row erupted on July 18 on the eve of the monsoon session of the parliament after an international investigative consortium reported that India was among those countries that used Israeli spyware Pegasus to potentially target politicians, journalists and activists.
“Over the past one week, we thought the Centre would initiate a probe, monitored by the apex court on which the citizens have faith. But when we saw that the Centre was apathetical, we decided to appoint a commission of inquiry comprising two retired judges. West Bengal is the first state to do this. They would look into how hacking was being done and who were the persons behind it,” Banerjee said.
“If someone is asleep, he must be awakened. This is a small step. Hopefully this would awaken others. This is has been approved in the cabinet today. We would now request the two retired judged to join and start the inquiry,” she added.
Banerjee, whose five-day trip to the national capital is considered to be significant ahead of the 2024 general elections, has claimed over a long time that her phone was being tapped. Last week, she alleged that a spyware was used to hack the mobile phone of poll strategist Prashant Kishor and record an entire meeting with him before the assembly elections in Bengal earlier this year.
She also claimed recently that she has put leucoplast on her phone camera to prevent snooping.
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party slammed Banerjee over the probe saying it was nothing but a gimmick, the opposition is in no mood to relent over the Pegasus issue.
Indian National Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor on Monday sought a probe monitored by a judge of the Supreme Court into the snooping allegations and indicated the opposition parties would continue to disrupt the proceedings till the government agreed to hold a debate over the matter.
He said it appeared the Modi government used public money for snooping to serve its “selfish political interests”.
Speaking to reporters in the parliament complex after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day, Tharoor said, “We want the government to agree to a debate on the issue, but it is not ready. What we are saying is that if you (government) do not agree to this and answer our questions, then why we should allow you to transact your business.”
He said while issues like price rise and contentious farm laws are also important for the opposition, the Pegasus row remained a priority.
Both the houses of the parliament have seen major ruckus disrupting most of their proceedings since the monsoon session started on July 19 as the opposition parties have forced repeated adjournments by protesting over a number issues, including Pegasus.
