New Delhi: Congress party, on Friday, raised questions on the Central government over the latest revelations in the Pegasus spyware project alleging 300 per cent increase in the allotment of grants to the National Security Council Secretariat in the year 2017-18, while asserting that the alleged snooping was done in 2017.
While addressing a press conference, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, "What raises red flags and serious concerns is that in the year 2017-18, a new subhead was added to the National Security Council Secretariat called the Cybersecurity Research and Development. Interestingly, that year, the grant allocation to the National Security Council Secretariat show up from Rs 33 crores in the preceding year to Rs 333 crore in 2017-18 and the chronology here reflects that the Pegasus snooping allegedly begin in the same year."
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"What explains for 300 per cent increase in the allotment of grants to the National Security Council Secretariat with Rs 300 of the 333 crores being spent on cybersecurity research and development itself. This trend has continued ever since with rupees 228.7 crores being allocated in 2021-22. Remember, allegations of snooping using Pegasus are from 2017," he further alleged.
On Friday, the latest news reports revealed that Industrialist Anil Ambani former CBI director Alok Verma and two senior officers including former special director Rakesh Asthana and former additional director AK Sharma were potential targets of surveillance using Pegasus spyware.
Speaking over the matter, Khera said, "Every day new revelations are tumbling out and every minute details how the Modi government was illegally snooping on social activists, journalists, opposition leaders, politicians from the ruling party, judiciary and now we have names from the corporate sector. With every new revelation, as a country, we hang our head in shame, but the shameless government appears to be proud of roguish activities."
He slammed the government, saying, "In fact, the defence being put up by the government and the BJP is worse than the silence of the PM. A former Minister (Ravi Shankar Prasad) comes and complains that if 45 countries have used Pegasus why is India being singled out. An incumbent in the Cabinet claims that the use of data somehow amounts to surveillance."
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"Alok Verma, Asthana, Anil Ambani and those journalists who covered Rafael story became the potential target of the surveillance using Pegasus spyware prove that the government is scared of true revelation of Rafael scam," he added. Meanwhile, on Thursday, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw made a statement in the Parliament, claiming that these media reports on Pegasus are an "attempt to malign the Indian democracy with its well-established institutions".
Pawan Khera asked the government, "We have simple questions, did the Government of India buy Pegasus spyware or not? If the software is meant as a tool for Counter-Terrorism then those people who have been snooped upon are considered terrorists? Did this government snoop on its friend to ensure that the people of this country do not get to know the reality behind the Rafael scam?"
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