The Centre said on Sunday that there was “no unauthorised interception” by the Union government agencies amid reports that phones numbers of Indian ministers, Opposition politicians, journalists, activists and others were found on a leaked database of targets for reportedly hacking them using Pegasus software.
Sources in the government told that it has “nothing to hide” and “nothing to fear” and that they are ready to “reply to any query”. They also said that the “news article proves nothing” and “previous attempts at Pegasus-government link have failed”. The sources also said the government is readying a “strong defence” to the political storm the issue is likely to raise. The Centre said that similar claims were earlier made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp by the government, adding that those reports had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Supreme Court. “Those reports also had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Indian 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 late 2019, WhatsApp filed a lawsuit in a US court, accusing Israeli surveillance firm NSO of helping government spies break into the phones of about 1,400 users across four continents.
