Editors Guild moves Supreme Court on Pegasus issue

The Editors Guild of India (EGI) on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court to seek an independent investigation into the alleged purchase and use of Israeli spyware Pegasus in India to target phones of journalists, activists, opposition leaders and even ministers.

EGI also asked the top court to order the Union government to produce contracts or deals with foreign companies for the supply of spyware, hacking or electronic surveillance which have been used, whether authorised or not, on Indian citizens.

“The Pegasus cyber attacks have raised severe questions as to the integrity of several democratic institutions and the political process. Amongst names on the list of potential targets is included a former Election Commissioner (Ashok Lavasa), several members of the Opposition, and political strategists.