New Delhi: Even though the first week of the Monsoon Session was completely washed away over the alleged 'Pegasus snooping' controversy, the government on Friday rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's demand for a court-monitored inquiry into alleged surveillance of several journalists, politicians, businessmen, and others in public life using the Pegasus spyware, which is sold by the Israeli NSO Group.
Clearing the government's stand, Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar said, "We have clarified everything in the spyware case. There is no issue for any probe. Those who are making allegations are political failures and they have no other issue."
Earlier, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the government had claimed that in the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of the software by the Centre and those reports also had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Supreme Court.
"This news report, thus, also appears to be a similar fishing expedition, based on conjectures and exaggerations to malign the Indian democracy and its institutions," the government said in its statement.
Meanwhile, mounting his attack, Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of using the Pegasus spyware against India and its institutions. Gandhi also demanded the resignation of the Home Minister over the issue. "The only word for this is treason," the Congress leader said while demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe. He also demanded the resignation of the Home Minister.
"Pegasus is classified by the Israeli state as a weapon, and that weapon is supposed to be used against terrorists. The Prime Minister and the Home Minister have used this weapon against the Indian state and our institutions. They have used it politically, they have used it in Karnataka," Gandhi told reporters.
Gandhi further alleged that all his phones were tapped and that his friends were also informed by those in intelligence that this is being done. "I am not a 'potential target'. My phone is tapped, it is clearly tapped. Not only this phone but all my phones are also tapped," the Congress leader told reporters outside the Parliament.
However, responding to Gandhi's allegations, the BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore said that the Congress leader should "submit his phone to a probe agency if he thinks it was tapped". Rathore also claimed that Congress was using the issue to stall Parliament. The Pegasus row continue to take centrestage in Parliament on Friday. After witnessing repeated adjournments of both the Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were finally adjourned till Monday over protests by Opposition parties over the Pegasus row.
The protest by Opposition leaders started after Trinamool Congress's Santanu Sen was suspended from the Parliament's Monsoon Session on Friday, a day after he snatched the Pegasus statement from IT minister Ashwini Vaishnav in the Rajya Sabha.
Reacting to his suspension, TMC MP Santanu Sen took a dig at the government by thanking the BJP-led government at the Centre for suspending him from Parliament in an unparliamentary way. In a tweet, Sen said, "The voice of protest of Mamata Banerjee and TMC party cannot be stopped. Bharatiya Jasoos Party Minister Hardeep Puri might be rewarded for hooliganism."