Illegal surveillance not possible: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Pegasus report

Dismissing media reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said in Lok Sabha that the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament are aimed at maligning Indian democracy.

In a suo motu statement in the Lower House, Vaishnaw said that with several checks and balances being in place, "any sort of illegal surveillance" by unauthorised persons is not possible in India.

"A highly sensational story was published by a web portal last night. Many over-the-top allegations were made around this story. The press reports appeared a day before the Monsoon Session of Parliament. This can't be a coincidence," Vaishnaw said.

"In India, there is a well established procedure through which lawful interception of electronic communication is carried out for the purpose of national security, particularly on the occurrence of any public emergency or in the interest of public safety, by agencies at the Centre and States. The requests for these lawful interceptions of electronic communication are made as per relevant rules under the provisions of section 5(2) of Indian Telegraph Act,1885 and section 69 of the Information technology, 2000," he said.

"Each case of interception or monitoring is approved by the competent authority... There is an established oversight mechanism in the form of a review committee headed by the Union Cabinet Secretary. In case of state governments, such cases are reviewed by a committee headed by the Chief Secretary concerned. The law also provides an adjudication process for those adversely affected by any incident," he said.

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"The procedure therefore ensures that any interception or monitoring of any information is done as per due process of law. The framework and institutions have withstood the test of time," the Minister said.

At least 40 journalists and around a dozen activists, including the Bhima Koregaon case accused, have figured in a leaked list of potential targets for surveillance using hacking software 'Pegasus' sold by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group. The leaked database contains around 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers including those of ministers, Opposition leaders, the legal community, businessmen, government officials, scientists, rights activists and others, The Wire reported on Sunday night.

The IT minister said that without subjecting the phone to this technical analysis, it's not possible to conclusively state whether it witnessed an attempted hack or successfully compromised. "The allegation is that individuals linked to these phone numbers for being spied upon. However, the report says that the presence of a phone number in the data does not reveal whether a device was infected by Pegasus or subjected to an attempted hack," he added.

"We can't fault those who haven't read the news story in detail and I request all members of House to examine issues on facts and logic. The basis of this report is that there is a consortium that has got access to a leaked database of 50,000 phone numbers," he said.

Vaishnaw said that in the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp. "Those reports had no factual basis and were denied by all parties. Press reports of 18 July 2021 also appear to be an attempt to malign Indian democracy and its well-established institutions."

(With inputs from Ajith Athrady)