Budget session: On Pegasus row, Modi govt says 'wait for SC order'

With the Pegasus spyware controversy getting reignited as the Budget session begins, will the Parliament see stormy scenes once again?

Union minister of parliamentary affairs Pralhad Joshi hinted that there was no need to raise the issue in Parliament until the Supreme Court announces a decision in the matter. He made the comments after an all-party meeting involving at least 25 parties.

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This came after Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury moved a Privilege motion against Union minister Ashwini Vaishaw over the Pegasus issue.

A recent New York Times article had claimed that in 2017, India had bought the Pegasus spyware from Israel as part of a $2 billion defence deal.

The Congress is now questioning Vaishnaw's statement in Parliament regarding the spyware.

In 2021, an international investigative consortium had named many Indians as potential targets of the phone hacking and snooping software. Subsequently, Union Electronics and Information Technology minister Vaishnaw had told Parliament that the report was unsubstantiated and full of inconsistencies. When a petition was filed in the Supreme Court about the same, the top court had set up an expert panel to look into the allegations.