It may be recalled that The New York Times put the Narendra Modi Government in the dock last month by reporting that India officially bought Israeli spyware Pegasus as part of a composite defence deal during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel in July 2017.This was in contrast to Centre’s consistent denial of carrying out surveillance using the spyware on Indians including politicians, journalists and human rights workers as reported in the media.Civil society activists including journalists had to finally seek the intervention of the Supreme Court to probe this highly sensitive issue affecting the rights and privacy of the individuals. The apex court finally agreed to set up an expert commit in its order of October 27 last year.As regards the Pegasus issue, the entire focus is on the Prime Minister, the PMO and the National Security Adviser. It is not so much to do with the BJP as a party but it is to do with the Prime Minister and the agencies on which he has full control.The Supreme Court observations meant that the judges had no belief in what the government lawyers told them about denying a detailed affidavit to the Court on the plea of national security.The NYT report showed how the Government continuously lied to the media and the people. It is to be seen whether the SC bench considers the NYT report also in the course of the hearing on February 25.
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