NSCS' Budget allocation increased 10 times in 2017-18: Bhushan, Cong

New Delhi: Facing the heat of Opposition leaders over alleged Pegasus snooping row, the government's decision to increase budget allocation for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) to the tune of Rs 333.58 crore in 2017-18 has added to the "woes" of the Centre.

In a tweet, noted lawyer Prashant Bhushan said, "The Budget allocation for the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) increased 10 times from Rs 33.17 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 333.58 crore in 2017-18."

The senior lawyer alleged that it was the year when the NSO Group of Israel, which has developed the Pegasus spyware, was paid hundreds of crores for snooping on several eminent individuals' phones.

Bhushan, in his tweet, said, "In 2016-17, NSA's budget was Rs 33.17 crore. Next year the budget increased 10 times to Rs 333 crore because Rs 300 crore was added under new head 'Cyber Security Research & Development'. This is the year when NSO was paid 100s of crores for cyber hacking of opposition, journalists, judges, EC, activists using Pegasus."

Notably, by NSA, Bhushan seems to be referring to the National Security Advisor whose Budget comes under the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).

In a similar allegation, Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the UPA government in 2011-12 had allocated Rs 17.43 crore to the NSCS in terms of grants.

This amount was marginally increased to Rs 20.33 crore in 2012-13 and further to 26.06 crore in 2013-14, he said, noting that NSCS is largely concerned with administration and co-ordination.

In the year 2014-15, when the Modi government came to power, the amount of grant to the NSCS increased to Rs. 44.46 crore, further it came down to Rs 33 crore in 2016-17, Khera said.

"But what raises serious red flags and concerns is that in the year 2017-18, a new sub-head was added to the NSCS called the Cyber Security Research and Development. Interestingly, that year, the grant allocation to the NSCS shot up from Rs 33 crore in the preceding year to Rs. 333 crore in 2017-18, and the chronology here reflects that the Pegasus snooping allegedly began in the same year," the Congress spokesperson alleged.

This trend has continued ever since with Rs. 228.72 crore being allocated in 2021-22, he said, adding that allegations of snooping using Pegasus are from 2017.

Referring to the media reports that eight phones of the then CBI director Alok Verma and his family members were put in the list of devices allegedly targeted for snooping using the Pegasus spyware by an unknown Indian agency soon after he was divested of the coveted charge on October 23, 2018, Khera said, "The expose reveals that prominent names from the corporate world and serving bureaucrats of the time, no less than those in the CBI were also snooped upon."

"Along with Alok Verma, two other senior CBI Officers Rakesh Asthana and his colleague AK Sharma's phones were also snooped upon. This also seems to show a direct connection with the raging controversy on the Rafale deal because in October, Alok Verma, the then CBI Director had met with Prashant Bhushan and Arun Shourie who had personally handed over the complaint pertaining to Rafale," he said.