In a response to query from Karti Chidambaram, who had sought details of budget allocated, if any, to buy such a software – a reply has come from MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar wrote a reply to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday saying, “The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has not allocated any budget to purchase software to intercept, monitor, decrypt any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer resource, as permitted under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act.”
Section 69 of the IT Act oversees “power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource”.
The response by Chandrasekhar came due to a query from Congress MP Karti P. Chidambaram, who had sought details of the budget allocated, if any, to purchase such a software.
The emphasis here is on 'Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology' because no mention has been made of the Union Government as a whole or any other Ministry. Curious, is it not?#MonsoonSession2021 #Pegasus #pegasussnoopingscandal #PegasusSnoopgate #pegasusspying pic.twitter.com/8ns2QAD7VG
— Karti P Chidambaram (@KPCinParliament) August 11, 2021
Also read: “Have Faith In System”: SC Tells Pegasus Petitioners To Refrain From “Parallel Debates On Social Media”
The question comes in light of the Pegasus scandal uncovered by a global media consortium that has brought several governments around the world, including India’s, under the lens for potential snooping attempts against journalists, activists, politicians and lawyers, among others.
The scandal exposed a list of 50,000 phone numbers that were allegedly identified as potential snooping targets.
Pegasus, made by the Israel-based NSO Group, claims to only license the technology to “vetted governments”. The NSO Group has also denied the allegations regarding illegal snooping.
The Opposition parties in India have protested throughout the Parliament session, which began on 19 July, demanding an inquiry as well as reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on the matter.
However, the government has dismissed the matter as a ‘non-issue’. Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a statement laid in Parliament last month said there is “no substance behind the sensationalism.”
Due to the ruckus in Parliament, the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die (adjourned with no appointed date for resumption) on Wednesday, two days before the session is scheduled to conclude.
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